# Blackfin Tuna, Mahi, & More!



## Fire&FishFighter (Dec 27, 2012)

Arrived in Navarre Wednesday evening, ready to get on the water and try my hand at some of the Mahi that everybody has been catching. I have been bringing my kayaks with me for the past several years and have never caught anything worth posting, (Spanish, ladyfish, blues, etc.) but I look at this forum nearly everyday and appreciate all the info I have learned from many different people on here. Well, apparently Navarre is a fishing mecca, and September is a great month for fishing because we have only been here a few days and we are staying the whole month and I've already knocked off most of the fish I was hoping to catch while I was here. Thursday morning, my dad and I launched at daybreak and made bait quickly. I started trolling south, caught a couple bonitas and Spanish, and look over my dad is hooked into a mahi. Our first one ever, so both of us are pretty pumped. Get the GoPro footage and start trolling again. Once I made it out about a mile, I got slammed. I wasn't sure what it was until it started doing the infamous death circles, BLACKFIN!!! My heart nearly leapt outta my chest, get it next the kayak, grab the gaff, and the stinger hook pulls... Heartbreaker. Luckily enough for me, I made another lap out and on the troll back in, I get nailed again. This time it's obviously a bigger fish and I can feel the tuna thump so I'm pumped again. Nearly an hour later, I finally break the beasts spirit and he starts the death circles. Get a gaff in him and feel a sense of relief that I will not soon forget. :thumbup: Right at 37 inches, and I estimate 30+ lbs. (Didn't have a scale, but if anybody can give a good estimate, I would appreciate it.) We caught a few more mahi, a king, and some more Spanish on Friday. Saturday morning, Dad and I did a charter with Brandon Barton and had an awesome time. We caught 6 mahi and had a few more hooked. Dad caught four cobia, all a few inches short but still fun. I caught a nice trigger, and we had some snapper come up but couldn't get our bonita chunks past the remoras. We also finally experienced Hobie's, and I'll be saving up and buying one for sure! Love those things! So far Navarre has been awesome and it's just getting started. I watched a nice sailfish greyhound for about ten minutes about a quarter mile offshore this morning from the balcony of our condo. I'll be trolling big baits on flouro from here on out because that is the last fish I have on my bucket list this trip. 

Tight lines,
Eric Hughes


----------



## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

Man ya'll are killing em!!! Great going!!!


----------



## MaxxT (May 9, 2015)

Good job guys!!


----------



## Mac1528 (Mar 24, 2012)

Great catch guys. Nice report and thanks for sharing. Enjoyed it!


----------



## TN-Trout Head (Sep 23, 2014)

*Bakers Dozen*

Is there anything you guys have missed the past couple of days...?

Great update and you have been blessed by the Gulf god it appears. Headed down in a couple of weeks and can only hope we have 1/2 as good a luck as you guys.

Thanks.


----------



## chaps (Aug 31, 2009)

Way to go guys! A lot of knowledge can be gained from this forum.


----------



## Fishnadikt (Aug 1, 2015)

Awesome!!!


----------



## barefoot (Nov 3, 2011)

Yes sir, We ARE the fishing mecca!
To mark thru a bucket list on 1 trip, very cool.


----------



## andrewsa43 (Mar 1, 2015)

I would say you guys must be living right. Great job


----------



## GrandIsle (Jul 2, 2015)

Great report and catch!


----------



## NLytle (May 13, 2014)

Nice! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## saii (Mar 7, 2011)

Nice job guys!


----------



## Night Wing (May 16, 2011)

Great report. Great photos. There is nothing better than catching a mixed bag catch of mahi, ling (cobia), blackfin and smacks (spanish mackerel). :thumbsup:

Thanks for sharing.


----------



## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

Nice read. Thanks for posting.


----------



## bbarton13 (May 4, 2009)

Great report. I had a great time with you guys. Here is the video from our trip.


----------



## tn_dave (Jul 14, 2015)

Awesome report! Congrats! I will be down in 4 weeks I hope the fishing is still that good then. How fart offshore were you guys?


----------

