"Holiday Stuffed Tuna" Brielle, New Jersey December, 2001

Yes, it's that time of year again...Christmas time. "Oh the weather outside is frightful????" No it's not, it's 70 degrees out. Stop the film. Where are the palm trees? Are you sure that we're in the Northeast, in December? Check the calendar again please...it's December boss...Are you sure...yes, Big Daddy Pants. So Skip the turkey, by-pass the holiday ham...let's go get some tuna, Wabbit! And that we did...out to Brielle. Brought my snowsuit, gloves, long johns, extra sweaters, my heavy duty insulated boots...Why? Just in case it goes beneath 50 degrees...wouldn't want to catch a cold. The Canyon was a joke...calm with a bit of wind that died right out to nothing. How was the fishing? Well, it depends on who you talk to...I pulled in 5 and lost about the same. My two buds from Sheepshead Bay got about 7 tuna in the boat and lost some real charmers. I was filming and taking pictures or I probably would have caught a few more, no problem. I had the hot hand that night. Those fish were hanging away from the boat about 200 feet and mighty line shy...so 8 feet of fluoro carbon leader did not cut the chees. Try 14 feet that was my ticket to the show, Johnny. And the water was warm, because the Captain put a little extra work in to find the right temperature breaks. I got my first December tuna and had a great time. My buds and I had action the entire trip. The albacore were hitting with small raps, so you had to hit them hard and then they'd run right to the boat with a vengance. So reel like a tazmanian devil and get that slack out to the tension again. Many guys had fish and thought they had lost them when actually they were flying right at them. The fish bit at night and the fish bit during the day...and it was a full moon...go figure? It was also 60 degrees out, so why would any of the usual rules apply to these fish. They'll be fishing right to Christmas as long as our tuna friends hang around, so go get yourself a tuna stuffer for Christmas or Hanukah. That 60 pound yellowfin on the platter with all the trimmings will feed the neighborhood. God Bless, ScreamingReel Dave

 

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