Steve Kaiser Memorial Tournament 10/5/2012

We had the pleasure of fishing the PBGFC Steve Kaiser Memorial Tournament this weekend. We haven't fished our boat since July, so we were excited to dust the cob webs off the boat and tackle. Marlana had swordfish on her mind, and talked me into leaving the dock party around 2130. This took a LOT of convincing, as PBGFC put on one heck of a bash. Thanks to the Sluder family for amazing grub, and the rest of the gang for a fantastic time. Despite the Bodacious crew trying to get us to stay at the dock for a pinfish tournament, (yes, a few cocktails were involved) Marlana made us push off and head south. We decided to fish the spur, and had lines in around 2330. I was tired from the prior nights work schedule, so Marlana took the first watch. She let me sleep until 0330. Around and hour after my shift began, I saw the deep rod twitch. The balloon appeared suspicious, so I decided to reel like crazy to see if a fish was on the line. This was the deep (300') line, so it took a while. I eventually came tight as I saw the light around 40 feet down. Instantly the fish surfaced, with half his torso out of the water. His bill appeared 6 feet long, as he slashed the water. The fish then went deep, and just about spooled the 50wide. I yelled for Marlana, and she quickly emerged from the cabin with her fighting harness on. As I was about to hand her the rod, the 200' line went off. So, she harnessed in with the second fish as I fought the first one without a harness. Luckily, her fish pulled the hooks, and I was able to hand off the rod after around 5 minutes. I pushed her hard to land the fish, as I knew it was a good one. (sometimes it's worse knowing what you have hooked, than not knowing) She did an amazing job for around 45", but decided to let me finish the fish off. She said she was tired, but I think she just wanted to gaff the fish. So, we got the swordie close enough for me to wire, and Marlana made her first Fly-Gaff shot on a big fish. PERFECT! The gill shot quieted the fish down, then the real fun began. She and I struggled for around 20 minutes getting the fish in the boat. We thought about getting the block and tackle, but were finally able to muscle the fish into the boat. We snapped a few pics, then immediately gutted, removed the head and tail, and iced the fish down. We wanted this fish to be A+ quality on the table. By the time we were finished, the sun was up, and we started trolling. Around 0630 we had a double on wahoo. Both fish around 40#, nothing big enough to weigh. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Headed to the barn early. It was a great tournament, and amazing time on the water. It's our tenth anniversary, and I couldn't think of any better way to spend it than with the wife on the water. Congrats to Boadacious for a fine wahoo!!!! And to Swea Pea on the new boat's first Blue. CONGRATS!