Tuna turned Dodo trip
Written by Alan Ogata on September 16th, 2014.
Tuna counts have literally been cut in half, still Ben and I were optimistic about the days fishing prospects... We launched out of Dana Point as usual and straight over to the bait carrier. Chovies are now available, but we loaded up on the dine/mac combo and charted the route over to our favorite fishin' hole. We ran smack-dab into some descent sized paddies and started working the nearest one slapping in some dines with anticipation of what the paddy held...
My first hook up on the paddy was a rat YT, but I kept him anyways! Next was Ben's turn and his and his turn again, all were rats which he released. My turn I thought when my Avet sx screamed then stopped and screamed again, I set the drag and set the hook! I thought another small rat, then I saw it leap from the water, a beautiful blue streak alongside its sail and 100 yards out. I yelled over to Ben, Fish On! Then I felt more and more weight as I reeled him closer to the Ski, I began to see that unmistakable fluorescent yellow/green glow as he caught air 3-4 more times.
Wow! I was hooked on a nice Bull Dorado that didn't want to be caught and ripped out whatever line that I was able to recover during his first run! I thought that he'd spool me a few times, with his long runs away from my sled and just when I got him 10-15' away with gaff in hand, he bolted straight for the some deep water and just hung down there in the depths, to where I couldn't even budge him... He finally broke and I was able to work him back near the surface where he started some death spirals and met my gaff. WHEW! WOW!
What a rush! My first ever Bull Dodo! We paddy hopped around a 500 yard radius and Ben was able to land a descent YT keeper. I limped back to the launch around 1300 hrs with the Dodo in my footwell as Ben continued paddy hopping his way back in.
