HUGE tuna landed by yakker with no help!

[Bluewater Jon]

Guys, looks like some guy named Dave Lamoureux from Mass. near Cape Cod paddled himself out for a big ol' bluefin tuna, which was officially weighed at 157 pounds. Coolest thing about it is that, from what I can tell, the dude did it with no chase boat, and no help!
Can you believe that?
IMO that rocks!
Here's the article:
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pb...EWS/911060327/
On a slightly more mundane front, if you wanna see what I've been up to, check out my blog at http://bluewaterjon.blogspot.com/
I haven't been doing any yakking but I've been getting doing a lot of magazine (writing and photography) work and enjoying some great travel adventures to fishing hotspots like Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Kona, and Nicaragua, and I've been lucky enough to photograph some big ol' marlin from helicopters, as well as face to face underwater.

Take care guys!
Jon Schwartz
Fishing Articles, Photography, and Travel
http://www.bluewaterjon.com/

[Matt]

Ya may want to start checking out your own backyard man?? We need you up in LA on the tenth of november!!!! And if you can convince the school district to bus your kids in too...that would be awesome!!!

[Billy V]

Seriously Jon, it will be "Game Over" after November 10th.
-We are certainly going to lose some valuable fishing areas in our back yard.

If it is at all possible to bring your students to La. for the final meeting I am sure it will make a difference.
-The Environmentalist have been bussing in school kids from Compton to fill the seats on the enviro side of the isle.

[Bluewater Jon]

Guys, that would not work. I have to teach school that day and the kids need to be in class, 90 minutes to the south in Oceanside. Bringing kids out of school to travel 5 miles, let alone to LA from Oceanside- especially if they are not my kids, but the kids who I have signed up to teach- is not an option. We don't have money to take them on many field trips as it is.
Just because the other side is stooping to using kids as pawns doesn't mean I will. I could lose my job for a variety of reasons. As much as I am convinced that the closures are not a good idea, I have no right to bring kids who are not fully informed into the mix.

[bellcon]

Guys, that would not work. I have to teach school that day and the kids need to be in class, 90 minutes to the south in Oceanside. Bringing kids out of school to travel 5 miles, let alone to LA from Oceanside- especially if they are not my kids, but the kids who I have signed up to teach- is not an option. We don't have money to take them on many field trips as it is.
Just because the other side is stooping to using kids as pawns doesn't mean I will. I could lose my job for a variety of reasons. As much as I am convinced that the closures are not a good idea, I have no right to bring kids who are not fully informed into the mix.

I agree Jon
and that makes complete sense...
But do you think you could call in sick on Tuesday the 10th?

We could really use your help...

[Bluewater Jon]

I'd like to, but I can't. Just this past week I was offered a sweet photo gig in Oahu with a major clothing manufacturer, all expenses paid plus a whole lotta bread (way more than I make in a week teaching), all I had to do was do a one day shoot and be absent the 10th ( since we don't have school on the 11th) and I had to turn it down cuz I need to be in the classroom as much as possible.
Last year I took a lot of "sick days" and then somehow got strep throat, which forced me to take a whole lot of real sick days. Strep throat when you are over 40- and I just turned 40- is wretched.

[Tman]

Well Jon, we certainly understand your reasoning on not being able to take the kids to the meeting...

I personally took Clay out of school, with their approval, and we attended a bunch of these meetings, and he made presentations in front of his class about what we took part in, since he is considered part of our future.

But to make a post, a repost at that, essentially to let people know what you've been up to and direct them to your blog, esp since too many people have invested countless hours, countless meetings, countless $, to preserve fishing for us, what did you actually expect the response to be?

Should we be envious, should we be wondering what lies next for Jon, or should we be wondering why the phook you exploit kayak fishing but can't spend enough time to help the people, the same people, who you expect to be enamored with your exploits?

[Bluewater Jon]

The point of the initial post was to spread what I thought was cool news about a guy catching a big fish from a yak with no assistance. Turns out everyone had heard about it anyway, but whatever...

I post on this and other kayak boards super infrequently, and figured that I might add a bit about what I have been up to, since it's been a long, long time that I've been to this board, or any kayak boards, and maybe someone (or no one) might be curious about what I have been up to, just like anyone else that hasn't posted in awhile. I figure sometimes it neat to see what other people have been up to, particularly if it's fishing related. If this stuff doesn't float your boat, sorry, just move on bro.

I went out with a yakfishing halibut expert about a week ago, but haven't put that article up on my site yet. Had a great time watching him do his thing- he caught 4 legals, donated fish to my classroom, and we did a hands-on science lesson all day on the fish, which dovetailed nicely with the marine science unit that we have been having fun with.
It was a big bonus also because a lot of the kids' dads deployed fairly recently and they have been feeling low, so every fun and interesting day helps. Working with and supporting this special group of kids- kids of deployed Marines-is something that we have grown accustomed to on campus since 9-11. It's a lot of work, and a big responsibility, and for people to suggest, as they did in previous posts, that I bus my students to LA, when their parents don't even know what the closures are, is ridiculous. This is a public school with zero extra funds.

I can just see the emails I would get from the Middle East from deployed dads wondering where I took their kids on the PTO's tab. Good for you if you took your kid, and that you are able to take off of work. The closures would be a big bummer, but don't kid yourself into thinking that that's the only worthy cause, and don't lump everyone who isn't taking days off from work to attend the meetings into the enemy camp.

"Exploiting kayakfishing" is kind of a strong term for what I did, which was, after mentioning the bluefin catch, adding one whole sentence and a link about what I have been up to, which is fishing related.

It's also a strong term because since I've had a column in Pacific Coast Sportfishing on kayakfishing, most every column has been devoted to highlighting the local kayakfishing scene and trying to get newcomers to the sport to support the local kayakfishing businesses. In some cases it was a local yakker- Josh Pruit, Larry Laumann, Dave Pliska, for example, and their techniques and contributions to the sport.

If the columns aren’t about one single person, it may have been about some of the local kayak fishing message boards, pioneers, message boards, and shop owners. In fact, I have mentioned BWE many times (not just in that mag) and highlighted the shops and owners affiliated with the site, like OEX, encouraging people to visit the site, join up, and get gear at these shops.

I have made numerous shouts out to people who are affiliated with BWE and OEX, asking them if they’d like to discuss their kayak fishing endeavors and enterprises. If this qualifies as exploiting kayakfishing, and particularly BWE, I don't know what to say, except I guess I made a big mistake visiting and posting on this site.

[Billy V]

I gave up an all expenses paid 1 Month Vacation on the island of Koh Samui Thailand to make the series of mlpa meetings on Oct. 20-22.
-I posted that I was turning down this offer sometime this summer because of the importance of the Oct. Meetings.

I don't dare tell you what I have spent in printing cost, travel cost, and most expensive of all, my time.
------------------------
I was just asking for your assistance to protect what we love to do.
Many of the environmentalist have been educating children about mlpa closures, as they have participated in public comment. We've done some of our own.

Educating children about current affairs is not ridiculous.
A Video worth watching
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhWhmmX93O0

[Dan]

Nice Tuna!!

[Ocean-Angler]

Originally Posted by Billy V

I gave up an all expenses paid 1 Month Vacation on the island of Koh Samui Thailand to make the series of mlpa meetings on Oct. 20-22.
-I posted that I was turning down this offer sometime this summer because of the importance of the Oct. Meetings.

I don't dare tell you what I have spent in printing cost, travel cost, and most expensive of all, my time.
------------------------
I was just asking for your assistance to protect what we love to do.
Many of the environmentalist have been educating children about mlpa closures, as they have participated in public comment. We've done some of our own.

Educating children about current affairs is not ridiculous.
A Video worth watching
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhWhmmX93O0

those kids kicked ass!!!!
Damn man I really wish I knew the gravity and reality of this when it first came along..
Ive really tried with the little time that its sunken in

I posted about the email campaign on 3 big forums.
almost got banned from BD trying to get otehr attention
Im trying
forwarded the email format too 100 past and potential customers and pissed some off too

I hope we get to keep La Jolla

[FISHIONADO]

I completely support Jon's position, the children he teaches deserve their regular teacher not a substitute. There will be people who can't attend Tuesday for good reasons but we should still be able to fill the venue with Map 2 supporters. Green shirts this time?

Thanks for sharing the tuna story. I'm sure a 157lb tuna doesn't tow very well from a kayak, would you tow it head first or tail first? Probably rope the tail and tow it backwards. I want to know just in case....

[Matt]

Thanks for sharing the post of the tuna and the EC yakker, I want to make it clear that I was sincerely hoping you could make it up on the 10th as I feel it could have helped. My little jab about bussing in the kids was kinda meant more as a joke...I don't like the fact that the enviros are doing it at all, and my comment was supposed to be a little tongue in cheek jab at them. Thanks for sharing what ya share!