Story by Jerry Hall/Fish With Me
Vancouver, WA
As we headed off shore, it was apparent we were in for a rough day on the Sea of Cortez, 75 miles north of Cabo San Lucas. There was a steady wind out of the East, which is not common for this time of year. It was producing swells of 4-6 feet with the occasional 6-8 ft. We were trolling three lures with a live bait rod at the ready. After about an hour of rock and roll, the skipper spotted the fish's tail on the surface. The deck hand responded and tossed out the live bait. As he did, the troll rod on my right bent over and the sound of the reel exploded. Upon setting the hook, I instantly realized the fish was of formidable size, as the fish stripped 300 yards of 60 lb. test line off the reel in less than 2 minutes. There were no jumps or opportunity to see exactly how big it was. The battle was on, though, and after 20 minutes, it jumped 3 times, then made another screaming run to the north. The deck hand poured water over the reel on three occasions to cool it down, as the fish made several long runs. I didn't have to worry about being over heated, given that when the boat backed down on the fish several times, I was showered with waves of salt water.
Because of the water conditions, it was impossible to remain standing, and I welcomed the fighting chair. The fish jumped several times and by now it was much closer to the boat and the runs were shorter. The fish and I had been engaged in non-stop physical exertion for 45 minutes, and, aware of the old adage that the longer the battle, the greater the odds that the fish will break free, I was on the alert for possible tackle failure. The deck hand donned his gloves as I got the fish closer to the boat on several occasions and its runs were now even shorter, but still intense. After 1 hour and 2 minutes, he was able to grab the leader at the swivel. We had made the decision to release this magnificent fish, but in an attempt to elude us it made a final lunge under the boat, ripping the leader out of the deck-hand's hand and--unfortunately--running into the boats prop, suffering three fatal wounds. Although I have always released these magnificent fish, in this case, alas, doing so was not possible.
However, many many pounds of meat were donated to the local food bank by Chris, owner of the Smoke House.
