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'Decisive' owner Steve Cothron, and team mates Bill Easum and James Cambridge, enjoyed us for two days of fishing prior to the PCCA tournament event they fished with us. James released a fat 650 pound blue marlin right off the bat to start a great trip for him. The fish came up on the left short teaser, then inhaling pitched bait on the standup 50 Alutecnos outfit and put on quite a show in the flat seas and early morning light, before it was tagged and released to swim another day. The team released another 15 sailfish from 24 bites for an enjoyable day, following it up with 14 releases from 24 bites the next day, missing a blue of around 250 pounds. 14 seemed to be the lucky number with the team releasing 14 sailfish on the first day of the Presidential Challenge. Day two saw 10 releases for the team, as the fishing slowed a touch for everyone. The final day saw us away from the pack and out wide trying to find a winning bite. It was an exciting finale, with the team releasing a single, a triple and another sailfish single in the last half hour to climb the leader board. With literally seconds before lines out, James made good on a blue he had missed earlier in the afternoon, and hooked a crazy 300 pound fish off the left short teaser, which we managed to release only moments before pulling the hook. 1 minute and 48 seconds, was the fighting time on our observers clock!!! What a finish and it pushed the team to a second place tie for the tournament, placing forth on time, and James Cambridge to second place angler overall. Nice work James!! And congratulations to team 'Decisive/USA' for placing third in the overall standings of the PCCA Grand Championships fished over 4 legs. Joan Vernon and my wife, Cindy, did a wonderful job putting together the tournament which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.
Alutecnos tackle owner, my good friend and equipment sponsor, Eros Cattaneo came in to visit and fish with us and his fishing buddy Ricardo Le Franc and son, Andres, of Puerto Rico. A great day of sailfishing was had by all, and eleven year old Andres showed great form impressing us all with his fine style on the rod, with the boat going 17 from 34 bites by days end. Please come for longer next time guys!!!
John Stoia and Jack Stephens joined us the 21st for 4 days of fishing, starting off with 10 sails and a hard pulling 300 pound blue marlin on the standup tackle to give John his first marlin release. Well done John!! With some rougher than average weather we battled to get on them the next two days, releasing 6 or so a day with some yellowfin thrown in, but getting a bite out of a 800lb blue which was so aggressive it kept miss the bait in the rougher seas made the day. Another blue was raised a short while later just to show that the marlin are really around in force, and how special to see such a big fish up close on the bridge teaser, in such clear water and good light. Cindy had planned a big turkey Thanksgiving dinner for Thursday night but the request went out for fresh sushi wraps and all the sorts of tuna treats she came up made for a turkey day with a difference and a refreshing change for John and Jack who seemed to savor every mouthful. On day four we ran straight back to the edge and within minutes raised a blue one which crashed the flat line teaser but would not take the pitch. We released a couple more sails and then found a huge school of feeding spinner dolphins with lots of tuna on them. Some 12 yellowfin, up to 45 pounds, and a 40 pound Dorado latter the boys had more than their fill of the non-stop action. We tried live baiting the school but were surprised to have had no luck with a marlin.
It sure has been great to see all the marlin action and fish with such enthusiastic anglers. The water is turning green inshore but is still blue and holding fish out on the edge so we look forward to more action over the next weeks and await the next big batch of sailfish which will hopefully greet us for the upcoming ILTTA tournament this next week. With all the hot fishing our bookings are almost full but there is an opening the 4, 5 and 6th of January if anyone would like to come down for a New Years billfish bash.
Happy Thanksgiving weekend, tight lines, circle hooks and healthy releases.
Capt. Brad Philipps
"Decisive"
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