Hello Anglers,

What a trip! The Ralph Mikkelsen's Big Fish Special truly lived up to its name. Excel anglers saw an amazing grade of fish that few long rangers have ever seen, with the majority of the 175 tuna above 160 pounds. To go along with the big tuna we also had 50 wahoo, a 500+ pound blue marlin (released), a dorado and a short-billed spearfish. We had constant action on the kite, as well as fish on the chunk, sardine, puffers, flying fish and even yummee flyers. In the nine days at the Hurricane Bank many obstacles were thrown our way. We had seiners making sets right on top of us, tons of brown sharks and fish that acted different each day. The fish were all over the bank and wanted a different bait every day. But with all the changing circumstances the one constant was the chance at catching one of those big ones day in and day out. Another blessing was the pace, for both crew and anglers alike. While we had several hot bites, like day four with 47 big ones with 7 of those taping over 200, there always seemed to be a steady pick with brief intermissions giving all of our bodies a little break before the next flash. During the calm periods we all got to enjoy an aerial display of crashing tuna of 150 pounds and up. Every day for acres we could see huge tuna blowing out, at times getting ten feet of air. To top it off we had great weather everyday, and it continues as we make our way to Cabo. Special thanks to charter master Ralph Mikkelsen and Marc Monforte for organizing another great trip. With plenty of fun activities to break up the travel days, this trip was truly enjoyable from start to finish. With 28 fish taping over 200 and another handful in the 190's, we're all looking forward to the 22nd when they'll be weighed up. Hope to see you there. -Excel Crew