I think we had a large flathead on the line this weekend… I posted the story on the St. Croix forum. So here’s my question:
As we weren’t able to land the fish and only got a look at it, how much would a flathead weight that was about 2 feet wide at the pectorals?
Because your son out did you on your 130 lb sail fish…I’m guessing 135 lbs. 
Seriously, tell him at least 50 lbs…best guess without a pic. 
sounds good! I like the “at least 50 lbs”…
BTW: I’ll have to post a pic of that sailfish someday… it was a real beaut (close to the all-tackle Atlantic record)…
How long did it take to land that one? Is that where they tag it and it’s released?
I’m not up on my sailfishing. 
My family was down there for vacation last spring and I chartered a deepsea fishing boat for a half-day. We didn’t hook up with anything while trolling for sailfish. After trolling, we stopped at a reef for some deep sea ‘jigging’ – caught a couple of red snapper, a couple yellow-fin tuna, a queen triggerfish, and that’s when we hooked up the sailfish… we had thrown a baited hook out and were getting it ready to hook it up to the weight to drop it down when – POW!!! – the sailfish grab the bait and took off… FISH ON!!! 
I dropped into the ‘fighting chair’ and the captain ran up the steps to the helm (almost knocking my wife into the ocean in the process 
) and the fight was on… The fish made a long run, peeling drag, before the captain could get the boat in motion – all I could do at that point was hang on… 
Because we were bottom fishing, the pole I had did not ‘clip’ into the chair and, essentially, I had to hold it free hand (no help in keeping it from twisting) while I cranked the reel… after about an hour and half, my left arm was completely locked up trying to hold the rod steady and my right arm was also cramping while turning the reel. A few minutes more and we had the fish right behind the boat. We were going to take some picts and get some measurements and then release but the fish had tangled itself in the line in such a manner that it ended up being pulled toward the boat tail-first. This, essentially, killed the fish because of the gill damage. The guides couldn’t revive it so we decided we needed to bring it in.
I had the snappers and a couple of the tuna filleted and I took those back to the resort to have it cooked up for us for dinner that night. The guides kept the sailfish – I’m sure they made a some nice pesos on that one and it probably fed quite a few people… The snapper and tuna were excellent that night, probably the best fish I’ve ever eaten 
.
If any IDAers are planning a Mexican vacation this winter (we went to the Playa del Carmen area), I highly recommend doing some deep sea fishing… no guarantees you’ll catch fish (we were the only boat of seven that day to bring in any catch) but you just never know….
here’s the fish… and the family…
Nice report and fish!
Couple questions:
Do you recall the type and pound line used..and
which is your mug?
Thanks! It was an awesome experience (except for the sea-sickness that hit my sons).
the line was some sort of mono… I have no idea as to what pound the line was – the guides provided all the tackle… It had to be pretty high because I was pulling with all I had and the guides didn’t seem to be too concerned about it breaking off.
I’m the big ugly guy with the sunburned arms in front 
, wearing the red “Leinie’s” cap.
For some perspective as to the size of the fish, all three of my sons (standing around the fish) are 6 footers…
Quote:
For some perspective as to the size of the fish, all three of my sons (standing around the fish) are 6 footers…
That would have been a lot of cans of tuna!
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
