Took Ed Mancini out there and went 1 for 2, fish was 55" ~140lbs.
Here is Ed story and my pic!
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Started out the day at 6:00 am at the ramp in Gloucester. Headed out to get some bait....
and almost 2 hours later we finally had 8-9 baits in the livewell. With the baits, we steam 13
miles offshore to Northwest corner of Stellwagen and deploy the baits. It
was lifeless out there....no whales, no birds, nada. We hear reports from
friends that they are landing fish on livebait down on the southwest corner
(off Provincetown) so we decide to pack up and head there .
On the way, we make a stop or two and deploy the baits and Nick starts jigging while
the baits are swimming around. Nick gets hit and the line pops in about 45
seconds. We move around a bit, but the dogfish are relentless, so we meet up
with a friend where the water drops off to about 200 feet.
Nick and I are jigging and he gets a hit and
immediately we know it is a tuna. I clear the lines and he settles in for
the fight. About 20 minutes later, the fish comes to the surface and I
harpoon her on the second attempt....clean shot right through the gill plate
and into the head. First time I have ever harpooned a fish. We tail rope her
and bleed her out, and haul her on board.
It is now 3:15pm and we decide that we went to get some cod before calling
it a day....even though the spot is over an hour away - way, way east of
Gloucester in no mans land, I head the tiny boat toward the waypoint while
Nick guts and cleans the tuna. We arrive there around 4:45 pm and start
jigging...about 15 minutes in we have one cusk and one cod on board. Then,
Nick lands a 30 lb cod and I get another smaller keeper. It is now 5:30 and
I steer the boat west and make the long run back to Gloucester Harbor while
Nick cleans the cod. We arrive at the ramp at 6:35 in the complete darkness.