Ken Bondy
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Stories from San Francisquito - #3 of 3
One afternoon we saw a huge cloud of birds working several miles out off the north point, maybe a third of the way to Isla San Lorenzo. The birds
were too far for the inflatables, so we rousted Savino from the bar and headed out in one of the PFQ pangas.
When we got to the boil it was amazing; the ocean was exploding. Every imaginable marine animal was there eating—shoals of small fish were blasting
out of the water, birds were wheeling and shrieking above and in the water, and the yellowtail were so thick you could walk on them. Hundreds of
dolphins were breaking the surface, graceful thresher sharks were launching themselves completely out of the water, and even a pod of pilot whales was
there.
It was late summer and the presence of dolphins on the surface suggested yellowfin tuna below, so we dropped the jigs down below the yellowtail, and
were immediately rewarded with four heavy hookups. When the first tuna showed color, we realized with horror that we were without a gaff. That was
no big problem with the first three fish; they were in the 20-25 pound class and, with some effort, could be “bounced” into the boat with just the
rod. Not so with the last one, that fourth fish was big.
The big fish was being fought by a close friend, now gone, Frank Armellini. When we saw the fish we knew it would be a problem, we estimated his
weight at about 70 pounds. Frank worked him carefully and after a forty-five minute struggle the big fish was on his side next to the panga. There
was no possibility of “bouncing” a fish that big without breaking the line; he had to be hauled in with bare human hands. I heroically volunteered to
do it.
The aft body of a yellowfin tuna, even a big one like this, narrows to a relatively small diameter just forward of the sharply forked tail. With this
fish it was about the diameter of the skinny end of a baseball bat. That allows a fairly decent two-handed grip. I figured that would be better for
hauling him in than by grabbing him by the gills, because the gill covers have sharp edges and don’t offer as good a grip as the tail. All that was
good logic, but I forgot to take one thing into consideration, buoyancy.
Hundreds of years ago a real smart guy named Archimedes discovered that an object in water is acted on by an upward force equal to the weight of the
water it displaces. Since the density of the tuna was about the same as the water, he was virtually weightless when he was completely submerged. So
it was easy to get some of him out of the water, but the more of him that came out of the water the heavier he got. When I had half of him out of the
water, I was lifting damn near 40 pounds.
So I found myself in this crazy rocking cycle with the fish—leaning over the gunnels of the panga I would pick up as much weight as I could, the panga
would tilt over to my side as the weight increased, and each time I reached my strength limit the tuna would slip back into the water. We did several
cycles like this. I just couldn’t lift him over the side. I was getting harassed and ridiculed, of course, by the other laughing occupants of the
panga, and this didn’t help my temperament.
Finally I managed to squeeze out a great shot of adrenaline, and with one mighty heave, I hauled him over the side. In doing that I of course fell
over backwards and the fish, now rested, landed on top of me and started thrashing. It was quite a scene, me on my back embracing this wildly
gyrating yellowfin tuna. Lures, poles, beer, oars, tackle boxes, shoes, hats, and people scattered in all directions. But after all that work I was
not to be denied. The fish finally calmed down and I was able to roll it off of me and into the bottom of the panga.
And after this incredible selfless effort, can you believe I was subjected to even more laughter and ridicule. But the battle was won. The great
fish weighed 75 pounds and made magnificent sashimi. None of us, including Savino, ever again forgot a gaff.
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Pacifico
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Ken,
That is awesome! I've never caught any tuna (yellowfin) out of San Francisquito. What month was that? I sure would love to though. How long have you
been going there?
Thanks!
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Wiles
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Ken Bondy
One afternoon we saw a huge cloud of birds working several miles out off the north point, maybe a third of the way to Isla San Lorenzo. The birds
were too far for the inflatables, so we rousted Savino from the bar and headed out in one of the PFQ pangas.
When we got to the boil it was amazing; the ocean was exploding. Every imaginable marine animal was there eating—shoals of small fish were blasting
out of the water, birds were wheeling and shrieking above and in the water, and the yellowtail were so thick you could walk on them. Hundreds of
dolphins were breaking the surface, graceful thresher sharks were launching themselves completely out of the water, and even a pod of pilot whales was
there. |
Great discription Ken.
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Ken Bondy
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3326
Registered: 12-13-2002
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Pacifico
Ken,
That is awesome! I've never caught any tuna (yellowfin) out of San Francisquito. What month was that? I sure would love to though. How long have you
been going there?
Thanks! |
Thanks Pacifico. That trip was August. We have seen yellowfin at San Francisquito a few times in the late summer when the water really warmed up.
My first trip to San Francisquito was in 1978.
++Ken++
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Ken Bondy
Ultra Nomad
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Registered: 12-13-2002
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Mood: Mellow
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Wiles that is a fantastic photo. Where was it?
++Ken++
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David K
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Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Great story Ken!!!
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