Race Point - Tuna, tuna, tuna!

[AlanP]

Friday evening – 9/19
Mung, thick, smelly and disgusting.:mad: Pretty much like that on the whole backside. To thick to fish. Went home and went to bed, planning to get some tasty hurricane waves on Saturday.

Saturday – 9/20 - Foggy am
Checked out all the breaks for waves from Eastham to Truro but nothing really going off. The ocean and wind was still disorganized. The waves were not breaking as hard as I was hoping. The water was freezing cold and full of mung. Tried fishing for a while at Newcombs but got tired of cleaning the line.

Race Point – Noon- clear and calm
I went back to the Race with the intention of just raking sand eels. The water was still full of mung all along the beach. After raking for a while I noticed birds working about a mile off shore. Not wanting to go the whole day with a skunker I put the yak in the water and paddled out figuring I could play with some Blues. As I got closer the splashes got bigger. Those are some big Blues I thought to myself. Then I saw Tuna flying out of the water. I estimated them to be about 4 feet long. I threw a 4” Tsunami Shad at the action. I was immediately on and off. 17lb test is no match for those beasts. I put on a 3 foot 30lb mono leader and tried again. I lasted a little longer before getting broken off again. Figuring it was the tail that was breaking the line I put on a 6 ft. leader. Hooked up again and had some long runs and nice tow around before being broken off by what felt like the biggest fish yet.--125-3 One more try. This time it felt like a manageable fish. Some long runs, a lot of shakes then slack line. This one dropped the shad.
The next hour I just paddled around watching the show. It is a sight I will never forget, Tuna blasting through the water scattering bait into the air. Some tuna came out sideways and almost landing on their backs.
To top off the afternoon a whale flew out of the water about 200yds away.

Once you have yak you never go back!:D

[SamRiley]

Alan,
I can't begin to tell you how much it pains me to read your report. First day back at work after two weeks off and NOW they decide to show :(

Glad to hear that someone hooked up though :)

For the record, you need to have a NMF Highly Migratory Species permit in order to even fish for Bluefin. Is your yak permitted..... mine is :)

[ruge13]

I am banging my head n the desk right now...--124-3

[AlanP]

Originally posted by SamRiley
Alan,
I can't begin to tell you how much it pains me to read your report. First day back at work after two weeks off and NOW they decide to show :(

Glad to hear that someone hooked up though :)

For the record, you need to have a NMF Highly Migratory Species permit in order to even fish for Bluefin. Is your yak permitted..... mine is :)

I knew about the permit situation but is was targeting ahh, blue fish, yea blue fish, that's the ticket.:rolleyes:

[AlanP]

Originally posted by SamRiley

For the record, you need to have a NMF Highly Migratory Species permit in order to even fish for Bluefin. Is your yak permitted..... mine is :)

How do you go about permiting a yak?:confused:

[ruge13]

Somehow you have to convince the State into believing the yak has hull numbers (which it does but usually unreadable). Then, you have to go and full out reg forms. After they send you to 3 different buildings because your boat does not qualify for any of the required classes, you are sent back to where you started. They have to get frustrated, fight wityh you, then consult the management. After that they will tell you you need a sales tax id form for the boat. So then after you go to another building (this is about trip 4), they will tell you you don't need it. So then you go back to the reg place and tell them what the tax office told you. They will argue some more about how there is no need to do this and how they can't do this because you don;t have real hull #'s ect. Then they send you tro collect info from the manufacturer and the store you bought it at. Did you know yaks have title's like cars and boats? Yep they do, and you will need a couple copies. So then after enough fighting and talking to managers there they cave in and you can get MS numbers. This process took me 4 months, and a total of 6 trips to the state offices in various buildings. Good luck, its not a fun process. Honestly it took me so long to do it and contacting so many people for documents that I don't even remember what is required to get started. My process was cut short to 4 months because Riley told me what I just told you...took him longer.

[kayakninja]

WoW!.....All I can say is WoW!:eek:

[time2fish]

Awesome story! Last october I saw numerous rostertails a 1/2 mile or more off Ballston Beach in Truro. I thought the shool bluefin were easily within range of a yak. What kind of boat were you paddling? Weren't you concerned that with a fish that big and powerful might roll you over on a run?

Matt

[AlanP]

I just checked the NMF permitting site for more information. I was not aware that it is illegal to even hookup without a permit. I thought you needed the permit just to keep them. Don't I feel the fool.:(

Anyways, there is also the option of getting a Coast Guard number instead of a MA reg. number for permitting. I wonder what would be easier.

This is what I copied from the NMF site:
Q: I just applied for U.S. Coast Guard documentation/state registration of my vessel and do not know my documentation/ registration number. What do I do? Can I use my temporary state registration number?
A: For Coast Guard Documentation number, you can obtain the number through your Documentation Service or through the U.S. Coast Guard Documentation Center at (800) 799-8362. For State Registration, if you've been assigned a temporary number, you may put that on the application form. However, you must contact us with your permanent registration number within 15 days of receipt, and you will have to pay an additional permit fee to update your permit. To avoid the additional fee, NMFS advises that you wait until receiving your permanent registration number before completing an application.

[AlanP]

Originally posted by time2fish
Awesome story! Last october I saw numerous rostertails a 1/2 mile or more off Ballston Beach in Truro. I thought the shool bluefin were easily within range of a yak. What kind of boat were you paddling? Weren't you concerned that with a fish that big and powerful might roll you over on a run?

Matt

I was about 1 and 1/2 miles straight off the campers at the left of the Race ranger station. From this point it is only about 200 yards to the very deep water.

I have a Wilderness Systems Freedom. 15 feet long. I have never felt like I would be pulled over by any stripers I have caught on it. Even some of the 40+ inchers. This is why a good drag is important.

I fished with my brother Sunday on the Brewster and Barnstable flats out of his 17 foot whaler. Very slow and the whole time I was wishing I was in my yak.

[ruge13]

I tried that way first thinking it would be easier. According to the CG the catch is that you need to get at the very least the temp Reg number from the state in order to get the Cg number. In order to get that temp reg number you have to go through the same process you do for the regular number. Thtas more for movign a boat on the water, say from Florida to the North east or something like that, sort of like the temp plates you get for a new car. at least thats how it was explained to me. Either way, the State will not give up the reg numbvers without a fight.