The alarm went off at 4:45 am giving us 15 minutes to get dressed and head off to Thamesport Marina in New London. It was Wednesday, September 17, 1997 and Dave Brewer, Scott Soule, my cousin, Bob Cleary, and I were to meet Captain Pete Fisher at 6:00 am for an offshore tuna trip. We had successfully bid on this trip at the 1996 CCA-CT Banquet however, Captain Pete had graciously allowed us to reschedule the trip to the 1997 season.
As we pulled out. of his slip, Captain Pete said that he had a choice of taking us on this trip, or the 1997 Banquet winners, Mike Libman, Pat Abate, Mike Corcoran and crew. Always being the politician, Captain Pete called us because we had been waiting longer. We quickly passed through The Race and headed on our southeast course past Montauk Point. Anyone who has fished with me knows where I was, at this point, sound asleep. My nap was interrupted by the sounds of line being let out. Bob, Dave, Scott and Captain Pete were all hard at work setting up our spread. Lines were quickly put into rigger clips, flat lines were dropped into the wake, and the anticipation was building. Since I had slept through most of the work, I was put in charge of helping Captain Pete run the boat when, and if, we got any fish on.
We were in the process of deciding who would go first when the starboard rigger took off and the 50TW started screaming. Bob Cleary grabbed the rod and the fight was on. It did not last long and I'm to blame for the "one that got away." All I will admit is that I had never seen helm set up with three levers plus a bowthruster control. We put the lines back in the water, I got a quick lesson as to what a trolling valve is, and we all prayed that we would have more action. The wait didn't take long as two flatlines and a short rigger all took off at once. Dave, Scott, and Bob went to work and soon there were three yellow fin between 35 and 40 pounds thumping on the deck, which we quickly bled and put on ice in the fishbox. The lines went back out and two more were quickly inhaled by small yellow fin. Bob and Dave pumped them back to the transom and soon they were bled and put in the fishbox. We now had five yellow fin and the guys decided that I could get the next one, which immediately shut the bite off.
We trolled for a few more hours and I figured that I was going home skunked. Then the short rigger went off and it was finally my turn. When Captain Pete pulled the fish aboard he confirmed that I had caught the smallest of the six fish aboard, a yellowfin of 30 pounds. As we put the lines back in the water we all noticed that Captain Pete was sending the center flatline out much further than before. Captain Pete said we were going to catch nice size yellowfin by putting that line out that far. Knowing how Captain Pete loves to tell tales, we couldn't believe it when Dave Brewer angled a 65-pound yellow fin into the boat. Captain Pete just grinned as he slid the fish into the box.
We now had seven yellow fin in the box and were headed back to the dock. All of us had caught at least one yellowfin tuna and we learned a few tricks of the trade from Captain Pete. Hopefully Mike Libman, Pat Abate, and Mike Corcoran will enjoy the same success on their trip this season.
Tom Annulli
State Treasurer