03/08/14

A whole lot of angst and hand wringing here as the dreaded result of finding far less than we left behind appeared to be what we bumbled into. "No guts, no glory", "no pain, no gain", yeah, all of that sounds great until the pain is real. That sickening malaise that washes over one when they realize they are painted into a corner obscures heroic notions in short order. But it doesn't halt the effort; far too many successful outcomes have occurred in the face of obvious doom.

At the very least we were looking for a change of pace, and that is exactly what we got. Far from glory but enough to deem the effort worthy the results did not come until the eleventh hour when a couple of handfuls of bigger fish moved in from the deeps and gave us what we came for. The pain and gain was not fully distributed, a few were left out in the cold shunned from the party, but eight or nine dandy's in the 140 - 170 pound class made it over the rail in addition to a few smaller models that met their maker in light of the day's earlier paltry results. One fish squeaked over the coveted two hundred mark weighing in at a respectable 203.

It was a bit of a nail biter but that is fishing. The weather is fantastic, beautiful, gorgeous. The scenery is equally stunning. We have bait, time, and the drive to root out a few more of these jumbos that I am certain are still around. Apart from the weather and sea state I can't report that fishing conditions are particularly ideal, but Mother Nature's folly is our cross to bear. In light of how this place presented it's challenges throughout the day we are in no position to complain. In actuality we are mighty pleased with the day's results.

Photos for the day rightly feature veteran long range angler Cathy Needleman who proves time and again that good things come in small packages. In competition with fish that are way bigger than her the consistency of Cathy's triumph's is something to behold. The old "mind over matter" adage definitely applies.

At about five feet tall and no more than one hundred pounds the inspirational image of Cathy pulling on, and standing next to, trophy yellowfin tuna much larger than her is admittedly incongruous. But the results are plain to see, and I hope convincing to any and all other lady anglers out there considering a long range voyage. It can be, it is being, done as we speak.

Photo number one features Cathy pulling on a good one with Captain Brian Sims standing by, Photo number two features Cathy with the above mentioned 203 she landed through a hoard of sharks at the end of the day.

Tim Ekstrom

Photo Here...
Photo Here...