Despite all that have been happening in Japan and with all the destruction that the country suffered in the past week, our Japanese guests made a commitment awhile ago and it was finally time to fulfill the duty,
Mogi-san along with Yagara-san, Suzuki-san, Jun-san and kaneko-san made it to New York,
after a quick bite next to the shop we set the way to North Carolina with promising weather condition,
made it to the dock at 5:30 am to was greeted by Captain Ned and first mate George,
we had a smooth ride all the way and greeted by nice marks, Captain Ned give us the signal to drop the jigs, Yagara-san came in tight on the jig and brought the fish to boat side after 70 minutes estimated at 270lb while he is fighting the fish i decided to throwa new prototype stickbait that is given to me by Deepliner, i made 2 cast to come up tight on the Race Point and landed the fish under 5 minutes, the fish estimated at 240 lb according to Captain Ned and first mate George,
we released all the fishes in the water and tried our best to take quick photo to secure the survival rate of the fish, so i will be giving the estimate weight and measurement that have been giving to me by both Capt Ned and first mate George, we actually measured the fish in the water but again it is not 100% accurate, so i will give 20lb - or +,
Yagara-san does it again and bring another 200lb to the boat side after 130 minutes fight,
then came Jun-san and get tight on the Gamma using the Carpenter BLC 8340 fought the fish and get beaten but manage to finish the fight, his fish estimated at 300lb
Capt Ned give us the signal to drop the jig and this time Suzuki-san comes tight to be greeted by 250lb,
we notice that the fish are cruising on top water and you can actually see them, it was on of those days that you feel blessed to be on the water,
Yagara-san does it again and landed another 200lb on a Gamma lure,
we finish our first day going 5/9, you can't ask for a better day then that.
Day 2
we were the first to leave the dock and i made my mind to cast regardless of the marks, i knew by being first at the fishing ground the fish won't be spooky and the chance of getting hooked up on top water is high.
i made couple of cast and saw a big shadow coming to inhale the lure, i set the hook to feel the power of this fish, in the mean time we had a couple of hook up that been lost due to shaved leader,
i landed the fish in 9 minutes and the fish estimated at 280lb, the fish took a Moutoukenmaru Prototype lure.
Ned shout from the cockpit to drop the jigs, Jun-san is the lucky guy
Jun-san showed us an amazing angling skills, he landed the biggest fish i ever saw landed on a jig.
in estimated 320lb measured close to the 85 inches landed after 2 hours, the fish took a CB One jig and fought on my favorite rod: MC-Works Southern Deep Ultimate Monster 538XX,
it was such a pleasure to see all the guys tangle up with their biggest fish ever caught. took a quick picture to the boat side and released the fish to fight for another day.
we finished the day 2/12, with so many lost fish due to shaved leader.
Day 3,
the weather man was calling for a blow out until i received a phone call from Capt Ned saying it is doable,
we set the path and off again to be greeted by top water action, Yagara-san came in tight and the fight is on,
after 30 minutes we start casting and all of a sudden Kaneko-san and i comes in tight, 3 anglers screaming in each direction,
we lost all the fishes we hooked, Capt Ned believe that one of the fish get attacked by a shark while the other get lost due to line crossing,
it was such a shame, but from now on it will only get better,
Suzuki-san make a cast and boom fish on, he was greeted by a keeper, he landed an estimated 100lb measured at 63 inches,
Capt Ned signal to us to drop the jig,calling the mark at 120 feet, i drop 150 feet and in about 5 cranks, i am on,
i fought that fish for 25 minutes and had it to color, i only had about 3 to 4 crank to leader, and all of a sudden my line slackened, the line had been shaved,
i estimated that this is my biggest fish that i ever hooked, the fish took a 300g Shout Shab Shab in blue,
i decided to try my luck with the conventional set up and get greeted by a great run, the fish took a Deep liner jig, fought the fish and get it to color under 15 minutes,
the fish measured 80 inches and estimated at 280lb, mission accomplished today, after all the losses we finally made it happen,
George screamed at us that he is spotting tuna cruising with the wave,
Kaneko-san make a cast and come in tight, i have to say that Kaneko-san showed a lot of determination to finish the fight,
his biggest fish ever caught before was close to 30 lb, i saw in amazing fighting spirit that will mark a memory in my life as long as i will live,
after 70 minutes and with encouragement and cheers from everybody he landed the fish with tears and joys,
i had never seen such a touchy angling moment before, he was literally in tears, hugging and thanking everybody.
that give me such a joy to see somebody like him appreciate the fishery that we have in the US,
we end up the day with 3/7 and called the day off at 1:00 pm as mother nature decided to roll it's wave,
all fish hooked and fought by the same angler, no rod been passed to another angler and no fighting belt been used with strapped harness,
all fish been fought free style, that is the Japanese spirit and i really admire it!
it was such a pleasure to be part of this trip, we still have a shot on Monday so i will keep you guys posted and i encourage every one to go out and enjoy what we have in our back yard,
after all we have to appreciate our fishery and respect those fish by being responsible.
Mogi-san refrained himself from fishing for the next 2 month in consideration to Japan earthquake tragedy so he was the designated photographer for this trip and all pictures posted are taken from his camera.
we still have one day to fish so i will fill you guys up with the update on tuesday
Tight lines
Sami
