Yft

[fishmaniac]

Ventured out to browns mountain yesterday with the intention of chasing some fin. We arrived at browns and the water was about 19.4 degrees. We headed around 5km wider and the temperature had steadily dropped to 18.9 so we headed back to browns and started cubing in 19.4. After about 1.5, 2 hrs i got hit and the hook pulled on the first run. So back out with another pillie and on within about 10 mintues. Meanwhile, our skipper had pulled hooks and then hooked up as well. So it was a double hookup on decent fin. His was a fatter yet much more lazy fish than mine and was boatside within about 20 mins. It went 43kg. Mine was a much more stubborn fish to subdue and took about 40-45 mintues. It was 135cm and weighed about 38kg. The reel i was using was agin a daiwa saltist 30H loaded with 50lb braid and 20ft of 80lb shock leader running to 2m of 80lb flourocarbon. I probably could have given a lot more stick (the drag was no-where near locked) but as a new fisho into the tuna scene i am still gaining confidence in my knots and lines.

A slight lapse in concentration while bleeding the fish saw me nastily cut. While the knife was in the fish and my left hand was holding it down (about 15-20cm from the knife), it kicked violently and the knife gashed my finger. We rushed back which took 2 hrs in the rough conditions and considering i still had feeling and good colour we didn't call for help. I spent the rest of the afternoon in hospital and needed 9 stitches. My tendons were luckily not damaged and my nerves intact which meant i did not need major surgery. It did however rupture one of the arteries in the finger. My point is to all that it can happen to the best of us. I had thought that 15-20cm from the knife was a safe distance, but obviously not so. I'm sure we have all had close calls so take care and think for that extra second, regardless of how exciting the situation may be...

Safe and enjoyable fishing to all.

[Scon]

that's a nice fin there

[slinkymalinky]

Timely advice Fishmaniac. Might be worth getting yourself an ikijimi spike... quietens them down really fast. I've had a finger stitched after running a bait knife over it. It's easy to get complacent when you use sharp implements all the time fishing without much thought.

Glad you're ok and that you got a couple of good fish before it happened.

Cheers, Slinkuy

[Dreamtime]

A slight lapse in concentration while bleeding the fish saw me nastily cut.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in hospital and needed 9 stitches.

My tendons were luckily not damaged and my nerves intact which meant i did not need major surgery.

It did however rupture one of the arteries in the finger.

My point is to all that it can happen to the best of us.

I'm sure we have all had close calls so take care and think for that extra second,

regardless of how exciting the situation may be...

Safe and enjoyable fishing to all.

Good advice, I'm sure that most of us become so engrossed in the excitement of the moment that we drop our "guards" for short periods of time, not thinking too much about hooks flying around, gill rakers, knives or the like.

Hopefully you will recover 100% and soon be back out fishing again.

Nice fin, eases the pain a bit.

[Penguin]

Nice fish

shame about the accident with the knife lucky all ended up well in the end.

penguin

[Steve07]

Good day out guys & you done much better than most other boats this weekend.

A couple of very nice yellowfin too,top effort & badluck on the nasty cut,we

all get excited during a hot bite & things like that can happen at times.

cheers mate

Steve

[Ray R]

Hi Fishmaniac, nice big fish you caught, lot of effort to get those fins so good on you, shame about your hand , hope it heals okay and you can get back to some fishing.

[dogtooth]

Nice fish There fishmaniac

Yes care should be taken at all times at sea . Just rememder a kicking tuna is dangerous in any boat . Next time just give them a few belts with a fish donger on the top of the head just behind the eyes as soon as they are on board preferably while they are still attached to the gaff . This calms them down and improves the meat , remember the less they thrash around the boat the less your prized meat is damaged . once this is done then the fish can be bleed . And always remove hooks using pliers its not worth a hook in your hand , if its to deep cut your line and remove it later.

You only make a mistake once , and its a lesson , good to see the injury wasn't worse.

Hope this helps Cheers dogtooth John..

[fishmaniac]

Thanks for all the support guys! The fish certainly tastes excellent! I'm hoping my fingers will be all sweet and i will remember to take much more care next time and invest in a brain spike or a nice lump of timber!

But for all those asking if the fin are still out there, the answer is hell yes! And the big boys are still there too if they can be found. I am confident we would have got more if it wasn't for my incident.