7/3/13

It's going to be an abridged version today as our fishing was cut short by the need to gain altitude right when a
few hours of morning searching produced the exact water we were looking for. Only a couple of quick hits were
possible before we took off but one of the two produced a classic wahoo scenario worth sharing.

By far wahoo are the most difficult fish to hook and land in the long range spectrum. Between their lightning speed
and wildly erratic tactics once they are hooked it is actually rather amazing that we are as successful at landing
them as history shows. Though we do experience periods of higher than normal success the law of inevitability
always seems to catch up and "corrects" the percentages landed to around an even fifty percent overall. Today's
first go around was a perfect example following yesterdays well above average results.

Fully prepared for wahoo from yesterdays outing and ready to go anglers eagerly awaited the first stop that was
unfortunately about three hours in the making as we searched for the right zone. When we did find it those three
hours of building anxiety manifested in a salvo of simultaneously flying lures a mere instant after "hookup" was
yelled. A setting ripe for ambush the result was a classic, and typical, wahoo train wreck. The diabolic wahoo live
for such occasions; rarely do they miss a chance to sow mayhem and destruction when opportunity knocks. In this
case it was handed to them on a silver platter.

In a blur of crossed whizzing lines, smoking drags, and desperate anglers and crewman struggling to manage the
momentary chaos the scene could not help but turn for the worse. Of about a dozen wahoo hooked two dashed under the
boat to become intertwined in the rudders and wheels, four or five zipped off for obvious reasons, and at least
three or four were casualties to the two in the wheels that naturally circled, switch backed, and changed
directions still traveling at sixty miles per hour.

I suppose it doesn't take much imagination to visualize the result of two, one hundred fifty yard, circling scythes
emanating from directly beneath the hull; not good. We did salvage two however, one of the troll fish that ran and
survived the gauntlet, and one of the two under the boat wrecking balls that was only landed due to the again
heroic, line splicing in the heat of battle, effort by Captain Brian Sims.

Such madness is inherent in the pursuit of wahoo long range style. The vast majority of the time wahoo stops do not
follow this format. But relate this tale to any long range Captain and/or crewman and they will recount a litany of
similar tales. For me they are too many to remember, and when I do it is typically with a smile as the ridiculous
humor of the occasions can not be overlooked. The old adage of "trying to catch a tiger by the tail" is
appropriate. There are those times when the tiger, in our case wahoo, will not easily yield. And of course that is
why we love to fish for them, and catch them even more.

Today's photos rightly feature hero Captain Brian Sims who seems to have his hand in just about noteworthy catch
during the past couple of days. In photo number one long time veteran angler Gene Hendrickson stands satisfied with
the under the boat culprit that sowed such incredible destruction (speaking of heroes this fish earned a medal of
honor in the wahoo world for liberating so many of his brethren) before being subdued. Photo number two features
Royal Star veteran Randall Yee again with Captain Sims and Randall's 71 pound trophy wahoo.

Tim Ekstrom


Photo Here...

Photo Here...