Mmmmmm Tuna.

 

 Not every day you go away on a family holiday 3500 miles away, seemingly going with no intention to fish only to be contacted by friends saying someone has seen you at the airport at Gatwick and he's on my flight....couple of days later a chap called Adam Bass contacted me to see if it was me for sure, of course, it was! Adam and I have trodden the same paths over the years but had never met nor spoke via social media platforms beforehand.

 This world is a strange place and noticeably how small it is...he was staying in Makadi, just a few miles from where my family and I were holidaying, soaking up the delights of the Egyptian climate. The conversation we had was great and a really nice chap, then proceeded to ask me if I fancied joining him on his charter out of Makadi Marina, after a very short waffle with the mrs the deal was done, I was going on a boat in the Red Sea for game fish, LAVERLY!

 A few days passed until the morning arrived that I was due to go and by 6am we were nearly ready to rock and we were afloat and gone by 7am. A number of fish were possible but I was just happy to get out on a boat, my sea legs needed an outing :) 

 Adam very kindly suggested as the guest I should have first run...I did try to say no but he wasn't having any of it, so when the freespool was sent into meltdown I was up! 10mins later a nice SkipJack tuna was aboard and dispatched quickly as it was approaching mid morning, stuff your normal elevenesses, sashimi skipjack is where its at, bloody lovely and the chef done a brilliant job with it later on with a light batter, brown rice and fresh salad. 

First blood, athletic SkipJack

 Adam then had a skipjack and then I hooked something that was a lot better than the skipjack and it played me hard, this fish didn't want to come up as we fished over nearly 100m of water just off the coast, after about 15mins she was nearly done and with a steady battle alongside the boat the captain reached out with the gaff and 20kg+ Yellowfin Tuna was boated! what a fish and what a battle. 

Readying a YF!

Mega!!!!

Ditto

Ditto

 If I thought skipjack carved off a 10min old fish was great then this yellowfin was in a different league, my god it was incredible !!!!

SkipJack sashimi

Nom Nom!!!

Yellowfin Sashimi

I am certainly a conservationist with my angling but when you are abroad the rules are different! Plus they are life experiences and one that one must enjoy during your lifetime. Great company, great fishing and great food on the deep blue sea in wonderful coastal scenery. 

Adam battling a spirited SkipJack

 After that yellowfin Adam lost a good fish so it was back to me, the next take was something you could only dream of, the sheer speed and power that this fish went at had the reel screaming! Atef the captain was 100% sure it was a DogTooth Tuna, the characteristics of the fight were to him made it undoubtably so. I just couldn't do much with it, in the end the flourocarbon leader must have cut across its teeth and she was gone, I was gutted but looking back just to experience that type of sustained power is a first for me. 

 Adam, if you ever read this, cheers brother!! It was a blast.

Away Day for Marlin! And Whale-watching.

 Last week I was away with the missus in Tenerife for a little break in the sun. It was much needed and both of us couldn't wait to just do nothing and soak up some sun, so thats exactly what we did for 5 days. The other two days we spent out on the Atlantic Ocean.

 The first day we headed out on a sailing boat for a days cruising on the deep blue sea. On our day trip we were told that it's possible we could see Whales and Dolphins as they patrol the deep ridge that surrounds the island of Tenerife. Depths slope away at a consistent rate 20-80 metres, then out of nowhere the ocean floor vanishes as you are quickly over 1200-1500 metres of water, ideal depths for squid and other sources of food for deep sea specialists like Whales.

 We really hoped to see some as they are one of the only major class of animal I have not had the pleasure of seeing. That changed pretty quickly though as we came across a pod of possibly 20 just ambling seamlessly across the slightly choppy surface. This species of Whale is the Pilot Whale and it was a joy to witness their presence. Our captain didn't get any closer than approx 150m to allow them space and not pressure them which I thought was very responsible, so I had to rely on my long lens to get some half decent images.

 Having enjoyed that excursion I was looking forward to getting back on the water, so naturally we planned to go out fishing! Not just any fishing either. For a few years now I have really wanted to go out in search of a Marlin but to name a few. Well that time came but myself and the mrs decided to book an afternoon session, hoping the bright high sunny conditions would have passed and then the predators begin to go on the hunt.

 For a good four hours we trawled 7 rods armed with various imitations behind the boat, all the time my attentions were divided up between watching the broken water behind the lures and the fish finder/echo sounder. Unfortunately I learnt fairly early on that the Marlin and Darado haven't made it into the "shallower" waters yet and still out in the deep Atlantic.

 For me it was a good experience and apart from not catching it has certainly cemented a return visit when the chances are better to cut my teeth and something a little bigger than Carp!