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View Full Version : Massive Longtail in the Bay



Bassmaster1
06-05-2008, 08:54 PM
G'Day all,

Took advantage of the awesome weather on the weekend to get out on the bay for a fish @ Gentlemans hrs Sunday morning. Started at Mud on the bottom half of the run out tide for 5 mid size golden trevally and a few nice bream. Also caught 2 nice big gar on bait jig before deciding to head off in search of some larger piscatorials.

Headed over to the inside of Moerton and trolled the 2 gar, after about 20 mins mine got absolutely nailed and 50lb braid was screaming off the Okuma EB80 at a rate of knots. We quickly pulled the other line in at gave chase. Whatever it was went deep and took some getting off the bottom, before taking a massive run and coming to the surface. At first we thought it was a 5ft shark, then my mate calls it for a longtail and I saw a massive flash of silver before it dove again. Another 10 mins of fighting it out in the deep again it surfaces again, unbeliveable it must have been 140cm, giving me blistering hot curry on 50lb gear. The whole fight took around 50 mins, and the only stage I was actually getting good line back on it and it was coming from the bottom (slowly) then the hooks came free:-X , I think they could hear f$*&K all the way over at the Amity Pt Jetty.

Anyway my drag was not overly tight (around 25lb i think), I was wondering if I should have tightened it up more to put more pressure on the fish towards the end of the fight, anyone else had this sort of experience?

All in all was a great day out on the water but would have been great to land that massive tuna!!


Cheers,

Bruce

PS Sorry tried to attach photos of the fight but cant reduce them to the right size.

cptpott
06-05-2008, 09:13 PM
Man that good news that you hooked up on a big longtail - sad of course that you lost him. - my heartfelt condolences. But take heart - I had great plans of getting out yesterday for a cracker day on the water. Had a plan, loaded up boat with gear, last thing to put in was esky, slipped getting out of boat, missed retaining wall I was aiming for and smashed lower chest into post. Big graze, probably cracked ribs, bruised ego, no fishing. went to work today. Bugger.

Anyway, I dont think your drag was set too low, specially a nice smooth one kile your Okuma, you do have to keep a constant pressure on them 'though or they'll throw hooks.
Must have been a great fight & I'm sure it was better than my day today.

Cheers

Craig

vertico
06-05-2008, 09:49 PM
25lb of drag out of an okuma eb 80 ?
are you sure this is correct? no offence but i dont think that it would be a very smooth drag @ 25lb and this might be the reason you lost the fish ?
bad luck, maybe next time.
sean

Liberty
07-05-2008, 08:10 AM
Ah well a memorable fish wins an even fight! Sounds like it was worth every minute anyway.

Bassmaster1
07-05-2008, 11:01 AM
25lb of drag out of an okuma eb 80 ?
are you sure this is correct? no offence but i dont think that it would be a very smooth drag @ 25lb and this might be the reason you lost the fish ?
bad luck, maybe next time.
sean

Sean,

I have not measured the exact weight of the drag settings on the reel, but I know for sure if I lock it up 50lb braid snaps off pretty quick. I eased off the drag in the early stages of the fight just in case the fish took a massive run and may have snapped the line. I will post pics tonight of the action and you can see how much pressure the rod is under the whole time, I could have give the drag heaps more but I though I would play it safe, still come up with nothing but a sore back :-X .

I think i will get some scales and measure the drag on the reel and put some relative pressure marks on the spool for future reference. The reel is an Okuma EB80 Live Bait Runner, not to be confused with the EPIXOR 80.

Cheers,

vertico
07-05-2008, 05:24 PM
yerh mate i had the same reel , it might be able to punch out drag in the general area of 25lb but no way its smooth like a sustain or stella etc
the jerking on the braid could have caused the loss of the fish
but anyway
sean

BaitThrower
07-05-2008, 06:33 PM
There are no massive fish in the bay come on... Why do you think we need all these green zones? Because there are no fish left in the bay at all. How could a massive longtail possibly be there? (said with tongue in cheek) :)