# Trip of the summer (8/14)



## Stretchin Lines (Jun 9, 2020)

Well I've meant to get on here several times to post about our trip offshore but that's life. 
On 8/14 myself and a couple friends headed offshore for a day of fishing, one guy had never been saltwater fishing let alone heading offshore. The two nights before we set out traps, we had more bait then we have ever had for a offshore trip. The weather wasn't great over the days prior and hiltons out the temp break way out of our reach plus the water color was not ideal either so we made plans to head put to the pipeline and deep drop for some snowies and tiles. Stopped at the pass and grabbed some additional bait...cigs, hard tails, etc. then set course 48 miles from the pass. Trip out wasn't bad considering one trim tab stopped working but we out ran the morning storms and made it to the pipeline. Quick assessment of the bottom and our drift before dropping lines in the water, only had 2 electric reels and there were 4 of us. So we set up the 2 who have never fished in waters this deep, first couple drops the bite was a little slow but shortly after we started putting fishing in the boat. 
This is where it gets good....head to our next spot on the pipeline which put us around 760ft of water. First drop and both guys hooked up. I really debated on bringing out the slow pitch jigging setup considering that's a lot of work in waters that deep but I always put fish in the boat jigging...actually prefer to toss out a flat line and jig while everyone else does there thing. 
Well first drop and I hooked up with a Longtail Seabass, I've never even seen one of these or heard of it...had to Google it when we got back to land. 
Second drop i was working the jig about 40ft off the bottom and got hit hard, at first I thought it got off or was just a quick hit but it didn't take long until I realized I had something huge on the other end. Just over 700ft and here I was battling a beast on a slow pitch jigging setup with 65lb braid. Somewhere around the 150ft column she decided to start showing how much power she had. At this point we still didn't have any idea what was on the other end. As we gained some of the line back we started to see color...at first my buddy said fuck I think it's a shark...FML...but then she turned on her side. Just as clear as day there she was...a large yellowfin tuna. My buddy quickly grabbed the gaff as I brought her closer to the boat...once she was in range I started yelling to gaff that bitch...she looked back at me and looked a little scared but he reached over and nailed a perfect head shot, didn't mess up any of the meat but now she was really pissed. I quickly dropped my rod and went to help as he was doing everything from going overboard. Somehow we managed to keep her from gaffed as we shuffled to the tuna door...took all 4 of us to pull her into the boat. We guesstimated she was around 150-160lbs.
I of course sat back, slammed a cold one and celebrated with my friends. 
Shortly after I prep'd her to go on ice but we had to relocate everything to the front coffin...but of course she was to big so we had to break her tail bone to fit in the box but it gave us the opportunity to have fresh Sashimi. 
The rest of the afternoon we loaded up on more fish to fill the box but nothing compared to the tuna. 
I have had a lot of epic days on the water and have caught all kinds of pelagics but never something like this on a slow pitch jigging setup. 
Regardless, this is a fish story we will all be telling for the rest of our lives. 

Here's the details
48ish miles south of Pensacola pass in about 760ft of water using the strike lines pipeline chart
Tsunami slow pitch jigging rod
Gomexus LX50 reel
Nomad pandora 65lb braid 
300g squidzilla jig


----------



## O-SEA-D (Jun 28, 2016)

Nice job bro!


----------



## MaxxT (May 9, 2015)

whoo hoo nice tuna!


----------



## lastcast (Oct 12, 2007)

Awesome fish!


----------



## chuck62 (Oct 4, 2013)

That’s freaking awesome!!


----------



## jwilson1978 (Mar 23, 2021)

Stretchin Lines said:


> Well I've meant to get on here several times to post about our trip offshore but that's life.
> On 8/14 myself and a couple friends headed offshore for a day of fishing, one guy had never been saltwater fishing let alone heading offshore. The two nights before we set out traps, we had more bait then we have ever had for a offshore trip. The weather wasn't great over the days prior and hiltons out the temp break way out of our reach plus the water color was not ideal either so we made plans to head put to the pipeline and deep drop for some snowies and tiles. Stopped at the pass and grabbed some additional bait...cigs, hard tails, etc. then set course 48 miles from the pass. Trip out wasn't bad considering one trim tab stopped working but we out ran the morning storms and made it to the pipeline. Quick assessment of the bottom and our drift before dropping lines in the water, only had 2 electric reels and there were 4 of us. So we set up the 2 who have never fished in waters this deep, first couple drops the bite was a little slow but shortly after we started putting fishing in the boat.
> This is where it gets good....head to our next spot on the pipeline which put us around 760ft of water. First drop and both guys hooked up. I really debated on bringing out the slow pitch jigging setup considering that's a lot of work in waters that deep but I always put fish in the boat jigging...actually prefer to toss out a flat line and jig while everyone else does there thing.
> Well first drop and I hooked up with a Longtail Seabass, I've never even seen one of these or heard of it...had to Google it when we got back to land.
> ...


That's why I love the deep less pressure and who knows what's coming up!!!!!


----------



## Boardfeet (Sep 27, 2007)

Nice Tuna for sure!
Thanks for a great report.


----------



## hjorgan (Sep 30, 2007)

Awesome trip for sure. Good story too!


----------



## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

dang!!!! jigging in 700 ft down!!!!! then to bring that up?


----------



## WAReilly (Jun 2, 2014)

That’s awesome!!


----------



## ChrisP14 (Jun 17, 2009)

That's an awesome fish!! How well does the 65lb braid work for that depth deep dropping? I always thought you had to use something like 20 or 30lb in that deep of water for tiles and such.


----------



## specktackler57 (May 15, 2011)

Great fish and story.


----------



## Stretchin Lines (Jun 9, 2020)

Realtor said:


> dang!!!! jigging in 700 ft down!!!!! then to bring that up?


Yeah jigging that deep was a workout but it paid off


----------



## Stretchin Lines (Jun 9, 2020)

ChrisP14 said:


> That's an awesome fish!! How well does the 65lb braid work for that depth deep dropping? I always thought you had to use something like 20 or 30lb in that deep of water for tiles and such.


I have been jigging for a couple years now and consistently put fish in the boat but usually when we are that deep we just stick to deep dropping with the electric reels or trolling so my jigging setup was geared for mainly the edge in the 300-450 randge, big grouper, snapper and AJs...and a bunch a damn sharks so i went with the 65 nomad braid on the reel because its thin and was designed for jigging. 
Our electric deep dropping reels are a completely different setup but still use a heavy braid, mainly because of the amount of weight we have to use sometimes just to stay on the bottom. Plus the weight and rigging is to expensive to lose if the braid failed in my opinion.


----------



## Lipz (Mar 19, 2013)

Great report with a much greater story with a lifetime catch, congrats on the success!!
I am very interested about the SPJ myself, so if you could share a little more about your set up, would be greatly appreciated, try to make up my mind and really decide what to buy and there is tons of options out there but no many people really fishing our area here TIA


----------



## Flyfisher59 (Jan 14, 2019)

Stretchin Lines said:


> Well I've meant to get on here several times to post about our trip offshore but that's life.
> On 8/14 myself and a couple friends headed offshore for a day of fishing, one guy had never been saltwater fishing let alone heading offshore. The two nights before we set out traps, we had more bait then we have ever had for a offshore trip. The weather wasn't great over the days prior and hiltons out the temp break way out of our reach plus the water color was not ideal either so we made plans to head put to the pipeline and deep drop for some snowies and tiles. Stopped at the pass and grabbed some additional bait...cigs, hard tails, etc. then set course 48 miles from the pass. Trip out wasn't bad considering one trim tab stopped working but we out ran the morning storms and made it to the pipeline. Quick assessment of the bottom and our drift before dropping lines in the water, only had 2 electric reels and there were 4 of us. So we set up the 2 who have never fished in waters this deep, first couple drops the bite was a little slow but shortly after we started putting fishing in the boat.
> This is where it gets good....head to our next spot on the pipeline which put us around 760ft of water. First drop and both guys hooked up. I really debated on bringing out the slow pitch jigging setup considering that's a lot of work in waters that deep but I always put fish in the boat jigging...actually prefer to toss out a flat line and jig while everyone else does there thing.
> Well first drop and I hooked up with a Longtail Seabass, I've never even seen one of these or heard of it...had to Google it when we got back to land.
> ...


Awesome…nice yellowfin. 48 miles! Wow.


----------



## Stretchin Lines (Jun 9, 2020)

Lipz said:


> Great report with a much greater story with a lifetime catch, congrats on the success!!
> I am very interested about the SPJ myself, so if you could share a little more about your set up, would be greatly appreciated, try to make up my mind and really decide what to buy and there is tons of options out there but no many people really fishing our area here TIA


Sorry for the late reply, seems every time I sat down with a task of getting something accomplished something pulled me away. 
I got into jigging years ago before a good majority of people around here really knew much about it or carried a wide variety of tackle. I started off for several years using a spinning rod/reel setup to jig, mostly because every rod/reel setup I have are in pairs so it was convenient to have a med/heavy setup for flat lining live bait and the other one set up with a SPJ or cobia jig. Well the more I got into SPJ the more i invested in it. Currently I am using a Gomexus LX50 reel with 50lb nomad panderra multi colored braid on a 6'6 tsunami slow pitch rod. I have a wide range of jigs from small to large...currently around 20ish jigs, purchased the nomad jig wallet early this year and couldn't be happier. A good majority of my jigs are from bulk stores with most being purchased at Gulf Breeze Bait and Tackle. Now several months ago my neighbor was making custom jigs in his garage, he moved but I recently got in touch with him again and will be purchasing all my jigs from him. His name is Skylar Young and his IG account is SlowPitchBaits. Look him up and reach out if you need any jigs, he's local and does damn good work. 
I mainly SPJ in or around the edge using the strike lines 3D chart in depths anywhere from 200-350'. Occasionally I will SPJ in waters around the 150-180' but even though we still catch fish its just a pain because the Gomexus reel retrieves around 45" per crank so your not getting much jigging done before im outside my target column unless its this time of the year and it doesn't really matter the depth as we target AJs which are high in the column. 
I rarely SPJ in depths greater then 700' because we are usually trolling or deep dropping with electric reels but that trip it paid off and from now one I will drop a jig down if i have the opportunity while deep dropping. 
If i can help with any thing or if you have any questions please feel free to contact me. 
Look into the Gomexus LX50 reel, there are mixed reviews about it along with every product on the web but its treated me right and is budget friendly compared to the competitors. 
Tsunami makes all kinds of tackle, from cheap rods n lures at Walmart to some higher end tackle only found online or in tackle shops. I went on a limb from a friend who jigs down in the keys regularly and went with the tsunami SPJ rod and im very pleased...only complaint would be the eye on the tip, damn eye insert came off fighting the tuna but it was a easy fix and honestly a good upgrade. Only other rod id recommend is the goofish jigging rod, a guy i work with recently got one and its extremely nice, durable and budget friendly...only con is its stupid bright colors. 

Let me know if I can help in any way.


----------



## Stretchin Lines (Jun 9, 2020)

A little update on the epic yellowfin tuna trip
There is a Destin artist named Harley Van Hyning who I've watched make some incredible pieces, if you get a chance look him up on social media. 
He inspired me to be creative so I made a couple Gyotaku paintings. If you don't know what gyotaku painting are google it, its a Japanese fish painting and I've watched that man paint some really cool fish. I even tired to get him to paint a Giant Mahi I caught a few years ago but our schedule didn't line up. 
Well I gave it a shot and they turned out pretty well. One painting is hanging in my son's room with the jig mounted to it along with a picture of my wife n son at the dock with the tuna. The second painting was made for my best friend whos boat we were fishing on that day. 
Overall it was a great day on the water and now along with the story of a life time we will have something cool to look at and tell the story every time someone ask about it.


----------



## Dhowell (Feb 11, 2020)

Nice art!! Very creative.


----------



## Boat-Dude (Sep 24, 2011)

Now that is cool looking, nice job!!


----------



## SurfRidr (Apr 24, 2012)

Very informative and interesting post, really appreciate the detail. Great catch, and a great story. Congrats!


----------

