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Random Quote: he ain't afraid of hard work, i seen him sit down right in the middle of it.
It's hard to imagine a more improbable circumstance than what just transpired on the Torture Chamber yesterday...out of all the possible outcomes...what we are left with still causes me to shake my head in disbelief...
Dave Beddell's trip this time around got off to another rough start...last month Hurricane Lane obliterated us and all but shut out Dave and his brother Dan's trip...leaving only one day to fish in nasty weather...but we did get lucky and get the job done with a 315# giant tuna for Dan...this time around the weather was better...at least on monday...but the shanks reared their ugly head...
We went wide on monday and fished very hard all day looking for Dave's first cow...Dan, who certainly could have enjoyed more liberties i thought based on his prior performance...merely mentioned the fact that he happened to catch a 315#er last time around a few times...letting Dave know at least...that the bar had been set fairly high...
All day long and we're scratching for a bite...a few billfish play tag with our baits but that's about it until the afternoon when finally...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...a massive eruption and a big tuna is running hard with the bait....sure enough out of the 3 baits out there it's grabbed Dave's and he is literally flying through the air to get to the rod...
"OK DAVE NOW!!!!"
Dave pushes the drag up and i slam the throttles....BENDO!!!! Then....no more bendo....CHIT!!! missed him...
We re-bait Dave's rod and not 5 mins later another massive explosion and once again Dave's bait gets the attention....ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ....lo ck up and we've got this one solid...Dave straps in and the line is melting off the reel...
BUT...pop...WTF?????....we reel in to find out the hook got fouled in the head of the bait when the tuna ate it...malo malo suerte...
By now it's time to head for the barn so with one day left we're starting to chew the finger nails and hoping we can ditch the shanks and get the job done in the morning...
We wake up to gnarly winds and a steep sea...whatever...we're going fishing...off we go and it's a wild ride to say the least...we make bait right away and on our first pass once again...Dave's bait....ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ....it 's so rough i can't see the boil behind the boat but in the same rigger...long position...one month to the day...Dave sets up on one mother of a tuna...
For the first 30 mins the fish played possum...but i knew from the length and duration of the first run when we set the hook that this fight was faaaaar from over...
Dave voiced his guess that he didn't think the fish was that big when....ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...the fish peels off once again and thus began Dave's 3.5 hr stint in the house of pain...
For 4 hrs and 10 mins Dave pulled his heart out...and kept up with the most hellbent tuna i've ever come across...
I'm going to say this clearly so that there is no confusion...
After 2hrs on the fight clock the line raced towards the surface and over 300#'s of tuna came skyrocketing out of the water...and over the next 2 hrs the fish jumped at least 6 more times...
Unbelievable...but true...the sight of that fish playing marlin will be with me forever...if i had not seen it with my own eyes i would not have believed it...
By the time we finally sunk the gaffs in the fish we were 9 miles from where we hooked up...and given the 6 - 8 foot nasty sea that was rolling it took nearly an hour to get back to the spot...we tried to make bait again but gave up and put the lures out and started for home...it was a slow trip but when 300 plus pounds of beheamouth lays on the deck somehow the weather seems a little nicer and the trip home a little closer...
At the scale we couldn't believe when the numbers read 315#'s...two brothers...one month to the day...a pair of 315's...that's a little freaky if you ask me....
Here's Dan's story and photo from the month before...
To The Victor Go The Spoils...9/18
The Bedell brothers have made the pilgrimage to Cow Town a few times a year now for three years...although we have come real close to nailing a cow during previous visits...and i mean real close...somehow the fulfullment has eluded us...that is...until now...
Dave and Dan are two of the nicest guys you could hope to have aboard a boat for a day of fishing...these guys are nuts about preparation and bring a veritable tackle store of rods, reels, lures, gizmos, and whatnots with them each visit...everything is in meticilous condition, spooled up...and ready to go by the time they show up at the beach every morning...with their general attitude, preparation...and overall dedication and enthusiasm it was only a matter of time until something wonderful happened...
This trip started off on a real bummer as Hurricane Lane rolled through forcing us off the water for day one...having only time for 2 days this trip i knew we would have to do some serious making up for lost time on day 2...
I asked the boys if they'd be up to leaving at 5am the next morning so that we could have lines in the water by grey light and maximize every available moment in their one remaining day...as usual...they were more than happy to oblige...
Well the weather left much to be desired as the residual SW swell and heavy NE wind created turbulent conditions that left us all wondering just how smart we were heading offshore...i had a good feeling though...despite the flu still putting the hammers down on my immune system...and knew that if we could just get out there things would eventually calm down...
We made it out finally and indeed things did calm down...although not until after lunch...and despite our best efforts there was little we could do to raise a fish in that mess...
Around 1pm the dolphins showed up and commenced their usual nefarious game...finally getting so bad that i was forced to pull in all the lines and make a move...
I had no idea where to go as i was pretty adamant about working the area where we had pulled the 212#er from the previous day out...but what can you do...i pushed the hammers down and let the force take over...
I ended up heading to the north drop...about as far as i could possibly go from the dolphin zone and still be in fishable water around the rock...i spun the boat around to head down swell and as Maro was putting the baits in the water we get zipped right away by a billfish...we miss it but i tell the boys it's a good sign as it's the first bite we've had all day...and it's nearing 3pm now...and at least there's some sign of fish hanging around...
Maro re-positions the baits and i notice he's just dumping the right rigger...i tell him that's enough but he's pretending not to hear me...finally i scream..."WAY!!! ESTA BIEN!!!"
He swivels his head around and i can tell by his grin he's up to something..."You got a feeling?" i ask...
"SI MON!!!" he says...and what the hell can you say to that...
No shit he dumps a third of the reel before finally putting it up in the rigger...turns to walk away when an explosion faaaar off in the distance behind the boat starts me screaming...it took a few seconds but finally the right rigger goes ballistic and Dan jumps to the rod and reel...
Lock up and ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ....this is a real one....
I'm still screaming at this point..."MAROYOUSONOFABITCHHOLYMOTHEROFGODICANTF-BOMBBELIEVEITHOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHIT!!!!!!"
We clear the remaining lines and it's off to the races...
Right away i know it's a big fish...real slow tail beats and nothing but hard determined pulling...Dan, who has not bested a cow before, pulls on the fish with rythmic determination and unrelenting patience...never once hurrying or deviating from the zone...and after a while Dan succeeds in pinning the fish in the port corner...where i put the boat into a wide left continuous turn in effort to keep the fish planing up and give Dan all the room he needs...
The fish was a bitch...there's no doubt about that...it absolutely refused to come in the last 50 feet and would peel off once it reached the limit of it's comfort zone...about where the leader would break the surface...forcing Dan to regroup and go about the daunting task of walking that behemouth back in again...
We don't call it the Torture Chamber for nothing...
Finally...after an hour and a half of laborious battle...the fish breaks the surface and the gaffs go home...
The beast...which has obviously saved some for this moment as though it knew it would come...unleashed a torrential beating upon Maro and the crew...
Finally it comes through the door...or should i say...SQUEEZES...through the door and there's no doubt about it...it's been a loooong time since i've seen one like this...
We snap some photos and hurry back to get more bait...but by this time the dolphins have found us again and it's literally impossible to keep anything in the water...we decide to pull the plug at 7:30 and make it home just in time to weigh the fish here at the house before the first of the stars come out...
Having already tapped it out...and very conservatively i might add...i had a feeling but until the digital readout on the IGFA SCALEMASTER went 314.5 you just really never know...
So Dan...a grande FELICIDADES to you amigo...there's no one who deserved an epic battle and fish like that more than you...
The first fish weighed 315 lbs....and the second fish weighed 315 lbs .....you may want to check your scales....try weighing Bull, your scale will probably read....
315# GIANT TUNA...AGAIN!!! 10/18 
photob
ucket.com 
