Cow Tuna......That's a tuna that weighs over 200 lbs and one of Fred's longtime goals. I never thought I would ever be able to do a trip like this, nor handle a fish that big, but when we got the invite to hop on board the Maximus in Puerto Vallarta we decided to give it a whirl....
We flew over in 2.5 hours and Capt Keith Denette picked us up at the airport. We picked up a few essentials and headed for the boat.
I had just finished wrapping two heavy rods to go with my existing assortment and was so excited to possibly break them in on a fish over 100 lbs!!!!
We rigged up and had a few cocktails then hit the sack. We would be on the grounds in the morning when we awoke.
The scenery was amazing...we saw whales, sharks, puffer fish, and even got paid a few visits by the locals....
So everyone is getting bit and I sit in what they call "kite-jail" I didn't know what they meant until I was sitting there holding the kite rod for 3.5 hours waiting to get bit while everyone else is catching these monster tuna. The kite is when they send up a kite with a snap on it...you run your line through the snap so you can dangle your bait on the surface. The deck hands tell me that my patience will be worth it and finally I see a huge splash as a big tuna boils on my bait. The kite flies away taking my bait with it and I quickly drop it into free-spool. As soon as my bait hits the water again I am on....35 minutes later I am almost in tears as I had a new personal best Yellowfin Tuna...
I end up getting one more smaller fish for the day....If you call 75 pounds small.....and crew filleted it up for fresh tuna steaks for dinner.
Next morning we are up before the sun and I pinned on a squid we caught the night before with a balloon and a sinker rig....As the bait drifts away from the boat I get slammed for my third fish. a gorgeous fish just over 100 lbs....
I end up getting a total of 6 fish for the trip ranging from 75-150 pounds. No scales so we measured the length and girth and used the formula to calculate. No cow for me this trip, but I will get one next time.
I spent a lot of time shooting pictures for Fred as this was his dream trip and I wanted to capture him in his glow.... He ends up with 3 fish for the trip, but he caught the bigger ones.
Here is a shot of one of his beasts coming to color....
Fred connects with his first fish on day one and it comes over the rail at 150.
Next fish of day one feels and looks like a cow, but after we tape out the length and girth he is just under at 190 lbs...Devistated by loss of the "cow" title by 10 pounds, but still ecstatic at his new personal best tuna...
The next day his dreams come true as he connects with this monster he faught for 1.5 hours.....216lbs and officially a cow!!!!!
We had heavy hearts as we ended our trip and the boat pulled away from this amazing place. We slept and woke up back at the dock where we kicked back by the pool, soaked up some sun and had a few cocktails to celebrate the trip of a lifetime....
Check out the marlin tile job in the bottom of the pool!!!
What an amazing adventure....We are already booked again and I am eager to get back out there and achieve cow status of my own.
Special thanks to Capt. Keith and his amazing crew for memories that will last our lifetime!!
