09-07-2001, 02:00 PM
STELLWAGEN BANK, MA-Giant Bluefin 9/1/01<br><br>Saturday, September 1st started John Sescila’s (Woodbury, NY) two-day fishing safari to Massachusetts. John’s plans were to fish offshore for a giant bluefin on Saturday and fish inshore with the fly rod for stripers in Boston harbor. It is great when a plan comes together, as it did for John,-- hitting a homerun on both days.<br><br>Saturday’s trip to Stellwagen Bank on the JANET B departed at 4:30 am. Live-bait fishing at anchor off the western edge of the bank was the method. At the slack, Capt. Al marked a couple of giants coursing under the boat. Moments later, the balloon broke and 130 screamed as a giant grabbed the bait. After clearing the fleet, John jumped in the chair and went to work. Meanwhile, Capt. Dave Decastro on his new charter boat, SHARON B, jumped on B-FAST’s vacant anchor ball and proceeded to immediately hook-up also. John’s giant made a number of long runs before settling down. <br><br>The location of the fighting chair on the JANET B is mounted high on the transom with the footrest over the water. Once the tuna is under control, the angler in the high position can exert maximum upward pressure applied essentially on the tuna’s stabilizing pectoral fins rather than on its oscillating propeller. Usually in this mode, the muscle fatigues due to lactic acid build-up. The giant ultimately is corkscrewed to the surface. John’s tuna had other ideas and made once last high-speed run. The giant dressed out at 480 pounds and was estimated at between 550 and 600 pounds. 15 year old tuna in this size class are in the prime of life and are usually the most difficult to subdue. John’s tuna was no exception. 1/3 of the sale proceeds will be returned to John once we receive the settlement from Japan.<br><br>On Sunday, B-Fast’s BAY FLY with Capt. Tom Hickie at the helm guided John to some top-notch fly fishing in Boston’s outer harbor. Broad Sound and Winthrop are full of peanut bunker about 1 and ½ inches in size. Small imitator patterns worked best. Once Capt. Hickie found the bass, John was into fish after fish on the long rod using small Honey-Blonde fly in size 1 and small sparsely dressed Clousers.<br>The fish were between 24 and 27 inches and were still biting when John called it quits to head back to New York. <br><br>Capt. Mike Bartlett<br>B-Fast Charters<br>www.bfastcharters.com<br><br> <br><br><br><br><br>Capt. Mike Bartlett<br>B-Fast Charters<br>www.bfastcharters.com