Gambler 30hr tuna

[Ol Pedro]

Chuck, do you remember when the Bacardi and Texas Tower used to be the spots back in the day on the Old Gambler. Caught Squirrel Hake while chumming , handed them out, and caught yfts, and birds on them. We hooked many big bft that we couldn't land on 6/0s . Around and around we went. Got frustrated and started to handline them with the rod on our shoulders and the customer reeling. Started landing them after that. Didn't hook too many on Internationals for some strange reason. Tech was not there yet. No braid and no 2 speeds. Remember when we could keep more than a couple Bluefin?

[AndyS]

I did a few of those "Baccardi" trips on the old Sea Devil. Pennington liked the shorter ride, plus if there were no bluefin you could bail out with some pollock. One of my most memorable tuna trips was to the Baccardi on the Sea Devil. As we arrived the seas were building and other boats were leaving because the winds started blowing a full gale. We only had 12 fares of which only 8 made it out of the cabin because it was so rough. We took "green water" over the bow that day and I watched a customer get knocked down. He spiked his rod to the deck and went in the cabin and never came out. I remember turning my head to the side and the sound of the rain was deafening on my hood because the wind was so hard. All you had to do was drop a Vikie jig to the bottom, pump 3 times and you were hooked up on an 80 lb. bluefin. I actually managed to boat 3, don't ask me how. One customer hooked a skipjack and as he was reeling it in we got to watch a 12 foot mako shark come up and eat it whole at boatside. One of the roughest tuna trips I was ever on, like being in a hurricane !!

[Pennsy Guy]

Originally Posted by Ol Pedro

Chuck, do you remember when the Bacardi and Texas Tower used to be the spots back in the day on the Old Gambler. Caught Squirrel Hake while chumming , handed them out, and caught yfts, and birds on them. We hooked many big bft that we couldn't land on 6/0s . Around and around we went. Got frustrated and started to handline them with the rod on our shoulders and the customer reeling. Started landing them after that. Didn't hook too many on Internationals for some strange reason. Tech was not there yet. No braid and no 2 speeds. Remember when we could keep more than a couple Bluefin?

I think that was a little before the tuna bug attacked and took control of me. It was mid-ninety's when Mullen threw me to the bug; didn't know a damn thing about tuna fishing after the first 24hr trip except that I really liked plus the fact I got my first yellowfin-yea, I know, it was a football, but it WAS a tuna. That was a year or two before Otto passed.
That trip is burned into my memory- like it just happened...