75# toothy Bluefin on the Eclipse

[Zfish03]

I stepped off my plastic battleship to get it while the getting is good!

With the bluefin ban lifted, hit the pens with the rest of the fleet on a 1.5 day in hopes of some bluefin. Kick off an early morning start with some yellowfin. Every bait was getting annihilated but anchovies seemed to work the best. 1/0 hooks and 25-30lb test did the trick.
At some point in the morning I somehow offended the Captain, "M", when he noticed I liked to use Spro #50-80 swivels instead of tying Albright knots for my fluro to braid. I do this because they're so small fit through the guides, incredibly strong, and I can use a 6-10ft leader that can be easily switch out to a larger or smaller # line. After that sentence, Captain "M" basically gave me a "what the F**K do I know? I'm only the captain of fishing boat" then called me an idiot before he walked off. Not really sure what to make of that customer service experience, so I kept fishing
I heard that the bluefin caught the past week were deeper under the YFT in the mornings and evenings, so I decided to throw on a sardine with a 3/4oz rubber core on my 65# braid/40# fluro with the dreaded Spro swivel. Within 5 minutes I'm onto a big fish. About an hour later a huge bluefin comes up! The first gaff attempt was a swing and a miss, I'm sweating now! The just as the second attempt hits home a huge hammerhead comes up from under the boat and bites the tail off as they try to pull the fish on deck. Crazy!
We get limits of YFT the rest of the day and I managed to nab one of the few dorado caught too(There was a wide open YFT bite at the stern and I decided to check out the bow with a megabait. Turns out there was 5-10 dodo's swimming around the bow with nobody fishing there! I guess sometimes it pays to skip some of the chaos at the stern)
All in all, it was a fantastic trip. Everyone caught fish, I got a trophy, good food, and the deckhands were on it.
One thing I really didn't enjoy witnessing, and I hate to write about this, is poor customer service from the captain. Multiple times he would be literally screaming at people during the YFT bites. We had some inexperienced people on the boat that were doing their best to keep up with the fast paced shuffle, many of who were older gentlemen. Tangles are inevitable. Plenty of fish landed already too. I talked to a few of them who literally sat down because they were sick of being belittled and screamed at...not cool. Putting people on fish is great, but being respectful and fun to fish with is another aspect of customer service.
End of the trip, my bluefin was the largest caught by atleast 40-50lbs. The captain smirks at me and says it was shark bit so I don't get the jackpot...even though it was gaffed. Even the deckhands seemed uncomfortable with his ruling. But, his boat his rules I guess. I was gonna pay my $20 galley tab and give the rest of the jackpot to deckhands anyways, those guys earned it. Ouch.
It was a memorable trip to say the least. Sorry for the novel, on with the fish porn.

-The tail-less weight at the docks was 69.8!

[Amish Ed]

"M" sounds like a real douche. Sounds like the crew was good though. Obviously the fishing was outstanding too. Good job!

[Ricsen]

That's BS that the skipper didn't let your fish qualify because it was shark bit. Also, many folks would have said something for bring berated while fishing. You did a nice job and deserved the jackpot. Congratulations on the great fish and your self discipline and patience.

[crazywakeboarder]

Should have fed the hammerhead...














With the captain.

[Cbad Mike]

Thanks for sharing the report and the pics
The captain is obviously a dickhead but at least the fishing was good.

[bigbarrels]

Congrats on the nice catches!

[food4less562]

I went on the Eclipse a while ago out of Seaforth Landing. Trip was overbooked and people were sleeping in the galley. Mark is a douche no doubt about it. One of the worst experiences ever on a cattle boat. You wouldn't believe it, but he kept telling me to use a mono leader. Not liking someone to repeatedly tell me to do something with attitude, I fished straight 40lb braid. Ended up with 5 YFT on the overnighter. Last time on that boat

[Chuck D]

Nice Feesh Zach!!!!!!! Thats a sweet bluefin and a very hard fish to get to the boat! Its funny, I had the same experience a few years back on the Eclipse. The captain had a meltdown on all the passengers about tipping the crew and called out individuals in front of everyone and basically required everyone to tip at least a certain amount, it was bonkers. He also flipped out on a private boat that seemed to be following his vessel. I made the personal choice to never go on that boat again. Its too bad because its a nice boat, but no reason for a captain with an attitude problem like that. Oh well, live and learn.

[Nic D]

Man what a great trip!

as far as the captain and boat go, thanks for letting us know. I'll never fish it and tell people about your experience. In the end, it really doesnt matter how you get bit, it matters if you get fish in the boat. nice work!

[onetriphudson]

Awesome fish, good for you knowing what works best for you and sticking to it. I would not fish the Eclipse after your report so thanks for the warning. These guys work too many back to back trips and slowly go crazy. What they really want to do is gaff a customer in the neck. I saw a deckhand beat a guy with a frozen fish one time for not tipping. That guy went on to own the Legend and remains intense.

[blitzburgh]

DOOOD! NICE FEEEESH!!!

I stopped participating in jackpot's on boats for exactly that reason - rules made up as they go. At least you got a friggin' pig!

[boxturtle]

Good to know man I thought all the boats in seaforth was cool

[forefrazier]

Sucks to hear that about the Eclipse. I had a great experience fishing with Steve on the boat. Not sure I know Mike or if he was on the boat then...Sounds like a tool.

[cabojohn]

super

[bolocop]

The Mexican ban on Bluefin was never lifted. A select few got lucky the three days the verbal ok was given because they thought they were safe, but the written reversal never came from Mexican authorities.

This is what was explained to me as we passed a bluefin boil in Mexican waters this past Tuesday. All the captain would say over the PA is if you hook them, we'll cut you off.

[bmercury]

That "customer service" sounds more like customer abuse.

[Casey]

If I was on that boat with the capt. calling people out on tips, I would have called myself out louder and prouder than he did...." Casey! A big fat $0 tip because the capt is a prick!"

[FlyFishinYakr]

Like everyone else,...thanks for the heads up! I've never heard much about "the Eclipse" and I guess now I know why.
I'm amazed that one who relies on passengers doesn't try to educate rather than berate. That's why skippers/owners who came up through LoPreste and Poole succeed where others don't!
When fishing gets tough again (unless word of mouth travels faster) this guy won't be around long. I know I'll do my part by not recommending this boat to anyone in the future !
btw: That was a nice fish. At least you still got most of it .
FFY

[makobob]

Originally Posted by FlyFishinYakr

Like everyone else,...thanks for the heads up! I've never heard much about "the Eclipse" and I guess now I know why.
I'm amazed that one who relies on passengers doesn't try to educate rather than berate. That's why skippers/owners who came up through LoPreste and Poole succeed where others don't!
When fishing gets tough again (unless word of mouth travels faster) this guy won't be around long. I know I'll do my part by not recommending this boat to anyone in the future !
btw: That was a nice fish. At least you still got most of it .
FFY

Real nice fish, you got all the good parts. Most good and all great skippers nurture their crews and ALWAYS treat the customers with respect while schooling them in the finer points of our sport. That is what skippers, crew, and guides do to succeed and keep our sport growing. All hats off to all you hard working gentlemen. AND THANK YOU ALL for what you do everyday for OUR sport.

[Dirty Curti]

Obviously this guy has been doing this for a while and it's apparent Seaforth doesn't care or he'd be gone. There are plenty of good Captain's out there that would love his job and take care of the customers so they would be more willing to tip the deck hands.

I know the deckhands work real hard out their for the tips but when a Capt. acts like that then a bad vibe goes around the boat like cancer and people wont feel like paying out the pocket for a trip that had a dickhead for a Captain.

That's too bad.

Good on you for a good haul and that fish is worth a whole lot more than the jackpot.