"Today started out like many of the days before," said the report from Intrepid December 14, "with good sign of fish early on and some of them on the larger side. Another 22 quality Yellowfin joined us throughout the day, several pushing the magical 200-pound mark and all of them over a hundred.

Of course with big fish come big heartbreaks and this one will stand out in our minds for a long time: Angler Mike Pihl hooked in to a fish early this morning and was locked in an epic battle Man VS Fish. The fish quickly took the upper hand, dumping Mike's International in a matter of seconds, getting down dangerously close to the spool several times before making a final run requiring the backup rod. The backup went out and the fish continued pulling, at times there was close to 700 yards of line out between the two reels and the fish continued to battle. "We were able to get Mike's rod and reel within feet of the Intrepid several times, the $1,000 rod and reel combo being at our finger tips and the fish still pulling. The fish made one more go at it, dumping another hundred yards of line off the backup reel and then it was gone. The fish found freedom. With so much line out, and other vessels fishing in the area our best guess is that it finally chafed against another line or running gear. With almost half a mile of line out there is not much that could be done about it, the spectra parted and the fish swam free. It's a part of Long Range Fishing and Mike had a great attitude, saying, "That fish earned every bit of its freedom." It truly was a giant. A Tecate and a short break is all it took, Mike walked back to the rail and proceeded to kick the snot out of a 200-pounder. All in all we finished our trip with 181 Yellowfin, a couple of Dorado and a handful of Wahoo. North we go. Our Anglers will have a few days of storytelling followed with our famous buffet and of course our Fillet Mignon and Lobster dinner. Life is good."