This day has been a long time coming. After the maddening, near two month pursuit of giant yellowfin tuna that refuse to bite with abandon, we finally had our day in the sun. Certainly we have caught our share prior, with a few here and a few there nearly every day in this zone, scratching our way along to compile a respectable overall record. But yesterday was different. After a disturbing morning of prospecting a new area with excellent conditions, tons of friendly dolphins, and zero sign of fish, we hightailed it back to the previous week's zone to find cooler green water and also, zero sign of fish. Needless to say the climate on the bridge was a little grave as the time to head out in search mode had obviously come upon us.

So, with six hours of daylight and the best strategy we could figure based on conditions, we chose our direction and set to looking. It didn't take long. An hour later we came upon scattered indications of big fish and after a couple of unproductive attempts located a spot that was markedly different. From afar the birds and dolphins had a narrow focus following what appeared to be some kind of bait ball up on the surface. At about a quarter mile it came into focus and our instincts jumped into overdrive as we recalled many previous like scenarios that resulted in big catches. A school of twenty to thirty pound giant squid was being harassed by a group of dolphins balled up on the surface while fleeing for it's life. From the look of it though, it appeared that the squids had even greater concerns from something down below. We when caught up to them, indeed a school of giant yellowfin was trailing below lining up to sow destruction on the deserving mollusks and add to their already mammoth proportions with another hearty meal.

In the end I believe the squids were saved as Royal Star provided instant refuge. Thankfully the giant yellowfin were not ready to give up the chase. With their appetite whetted, and plenty to eat flying over the side, they set up camp and got down to business biting in earnest for the next couple of hours while we basked in the indescribable pleasure of working balls out to stay ahead of the action. Twenty four was the total from the afternoon hit with six of those over the two hundred mark and the majority of the others coming in at one fifty to one eighty. Combined with an incredible surface showing, that has almost unbelievably become standard in this area, the action can again only be described as paradise as this group of ten, highly proficient anglers set to their beloved challenge of hooking and landing giant yellowfin tuna in flat calm seas and perfect conditions. What an afternoon. This was exactly what we needed to feel satisfied.

Congratulations to all these anglers who performed flawlessly amidst the action demonstrating their talent and ability to perfection. Steve Kimbrough took the big fish honors with a two fifty three while the remaining five deuces ranged from two hundred nine to two forty three. Also, with this hit, every angler on board now has a two hundred pounder to his credit. We have two days remaining, the rapidly achieving miracle status, flat calm conditions forecast to continue, and plenty of motivation to establish this kind of action as a trend. Captain Toussaint has the helm tomorrow so we will soon find out if this was the change we were hoping for or a fluke. Needless to say, after enduring possibly the longest stretch of viewing incredible quantities of not biting giant yellowfin tuna in my memory, we are not ready in the least to ease up. Come on baby. Keep biting.

Tim