We left Grand Bahama Yacht Club at 12:20 yesterday. As soon as we were out of the channel Kyle put his lines out and started fishing. Ten minutes later he got us two tuna. Unfortunately, he got them from the pantry and they were already canned. But this was to be a foreshadow of what was to come.
We traveled south east, headed towards Royal Island, just off the coast of Eleuthera Island.
Around 5pm Kyle got his first tuna, but the hook didn't set.
The sun set shortly after 7pm, and with no moon for two hours, the stars were breathtaking. Then around 9pm the blood red moon cracked the horizon. Within a minute it was fully above the horizon and the colour faded to yellow.
At 11:30 at night, with the bright moon climbing high, Kyle got a second tuna and this time the hook set properly. We are running Sufix Superior 80lb monofilament in hi-vis yellow on a Penn Slick Butt International V Standup 6-Foot rod with a Penn Squall 50 Level Wind Trolling Reel. Even though this was a good sized Albacore tuna, he didn't stand a chance. A short time past midnight it was all over and the 50+ cm fish was aboard.
During the night Kyle and I took three hours shifts at the helm. The waves calmed down during the night and the water got so smooth it was reflecting the stars. With no land in sight it was impossible to tell where the ocean end and the sky began.
At 5:58am, with dawn approaching, we got another bite, and this one was a huge one. I was at the helm when the rod twitched, then took off like a shot. I hollered "Fish on" and Kyle came running as I set the hook and increased tension on the reel to slow this powerhouse. For 30 minutes Kyle fought this monster, and with the sky now bright in the pre-dawn light we saw it come to the surface. It skimmed just under the surface spraying water and making a large wake, then dove. This was repeated several times before it came to the surface and rolled multiple times. Unfortunately the rolling managed to dislodge the hook and it was gone. It was likely a Wahoo, but what ever it was it was big enough and strong enough to slow our 5,000 kg boat, despite running both 30hp engines.
By 10am we had arrived at the magnificent Royal Island Harbour and dropped anchor. First job was to get Cedar to shore as we had been running for 22 hours now.
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