The yellowfin fight

Ask any angler and they will tell you that there is nothing like the feeling of casting a line and reeling in the bounty of the sea, but the prospect of having their daily catch bag $1,000 and the Duty Free Cup for first place adds a little more to the experience.

When almost 100 boats launched into the Saipan seas on Saturday morning for the start of the 21st Annual Saipan International Fishing Tournament, they shared the same enthusiasm for what the two-day fish-athon would offer.

Ivan Quinata, Steve Rice, Jerry Smith, Duey Cooper, Brian Metz, and captain John Faisao of Team Mobil set out on the Nombei on opening day trolling the waters all around Saipan but were able to catch a 10-lb. Bonita that served as their lunch, but that was okay with them.

“We didn’t really care about the prize. We just wanted to go out, win something, and come in on time” said Rice.

Day 2 was something different all together. When the crew left the confines of the Saipan Lagoon they took the Nombei northward. As they had the day before, they were enjoying the hunt. Faisao is out in the water everyday as the operator for the SeaVenture Boat Charter, but even he was able to enjoy the ride.

Their tournament experience changed for the better a little past noon when they were about 10 miles out of the Banzai Reef.

“It was incredible, man. We had birds all around us, a rainbow runner hit our line, then a bonita, and then we hit it. It was a magical moment,” said Faisao.

The moment he was speaking about was when a 73.85-lb. yellowfin tuna took their bait and got hooked on one of the Nombei’s lines. For the next 27 minutes, the crew worked together to reel in the titan tuna, but the adventure didn’t end there because they still had to get the yellow-tipped foe into the Nombei.

“The thing wouldn’t die. We put him in the boat and he went nuts,” said Rice.

The yellowfin eventually succumbed to the lack of breathing water, and Team Mobil made their way towards Smiling Cove Marina, where they presented the beast at 4:15pm.

Their catch was nearly 11 lbs. heavier than the second place yellowfin reeled in by the Lemetau (63.10), and was almost 19 lbs. greater than the 55.07-lb. tuna Ray Dela Cruz, Joe Guerrero, and Joe Reyes bagged last year on the Grand V’s to take the title.

Angler Ray Roberto also had a yellowfin story from the weekend as he landed the third place award for his 49.60-lb. catch. Much like the other 94 boats in the tournament, Roberto and the intrepid crew of the CM299 hit the water bright and early at 6am on Saturday, but they strayed from the pack by heading over to the east side of Tinian.

Once there, Roberto sighted a flock of birds that tipped his team off to a school of skipjack.

“You could actually see the skipjack. It looks like the water is boiling because there’s so many of them feeding on the surface of the water,” said Roberto.

As the experienced fisherman know, a skipjack school leads to the bigger yellowfin in the cooler waters beneath, and the big marlin follow those schools as well, but the crew was hoping to catch anything when they happened upon the find.

While they were anxious, they were just happy to be out on the boat together with a group of friends on a picture-perfect day.

“We were always hoping, but we’re just having fun. If we catch it, we catch it,” said Roberto.

After casting the lines into the sea behind them, the crew began to troll through the school with their regular five-inch lures when a skipjack and a yellowfin hit their lines.

After roughly 10 minutes of fighting the fish, Roberto and company reeled in a prize winner, and the night’s dinner.