*That's* a big fish!
Posted on 08/25/2005 6:28:14 PM PDT by Rebelbase
When 15-year old Sara Hayward of Nacodoches, Texas went fishing with her dad on July 29, she was looking forward to a fun day on the water, but probably not imaging landing the potential three world record 184 pound wahoo she brought in that day.
After her mother, sister and brother elected to sleep in that morning, only Sara accompanied her father on the fateful fishing trip. They were fishing from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with Capt. Gerry Martinez and mate Marcos Gonzalez on the Pez Espada.
Martinez has been fishing the Baja waters for almost 50 years and headed to a local area known as the 95 Spot. They boated several small yellowfin tunas and decided around noon to troll towards port.
Approximately halfway back in, the Shimano LRS 50 reel began screaming with the sound of a hookup.
As Gonzalez brought in the other lines, Hayward settled into the fighting chair and knew she had something much bigger than anything she had ever caught. She was getting more exhausted and sun burnt by the minute as she fought the fish, yet her father kept encouraging her.
The fight had lasted 45 minutes when Hayward noticed the fish swimming towards the boat and under it. Martinez immediately repositioned the boat to keep her in front of the fish. She looked over her shoulder and could see the fish surface next to the boat and screamed, "He's big!"
Once the huge fish was seen, Gonzalez shouted to Martinez, "It's the biggest wahoo I have ever seen! Come down and help me!" Martinez jumped from the fly bridge and grabbed the homemade gaff they carried on board. While Gonzalez held the leader trying to steady the fish, Martinez gaffed the fish three feet below the surface on the first try, then screamed for everyone to help bring it on board.
As they all hoisted it in they couldn't believe their eyes. They knew it was big, but now it was actually in the boat with them, they were all in shock by its size. Martinez rushed to the VHF radio letting others know that they were coming in with the "The biggest wahoo anyone has ever seen!" He then gave Tim Hayward his cell phone and said, "You'd better call your wife and kids and tell them to get down here."
According to Cabo San Lucas IGFA Representative Minerva Sanez, operator of Minerva's Baja Tackle, “This fish had Sara's name on it.” Sanez was figuratively speaking about Hayward's huge fish which could actually bring three records. Hayward's huge wahoo easily topped the current nine-year old 158-lb, 8-oz wahoo in the all-tackle division caught off Loreto, Baja California, Mexico in 1996 the current 50-lb line class record of 153 lb 8 oz, which is also nine-years old and was caught off San Salvador, Bahamas.
Before an IGFA certified scale arrived from Minerva's Baja Tackle, the dock boys hoisted the wahoo and weighed it on the old city scale. It weighed 192 pounds! Shortly Luis Armando Martinez arrived with the certified scale and they again hoisted the fish for a second weight. When he climbed the platform to see what the scale registered, everyone was silent when he shouted 184 pounds.
“It's unbelievable that she could catch that big fish,” said Sanez. Sanez said the lure was a "Mean Joe Green" rigged with the oldest set of 10/0 tandem hooks she had ever seen and was barely hanging together on monofilament leader that was chafed from the fish fight, from one end to the other and worn thin at the loop. All of this was connected to a barrel swivel which was once black, but now a shiny bronze.
Hayward, who is a band member and on the volleyball and track teams at Nacogdoches High School, has applied for three world records for the 184 lb (83.46 kg) catch: All-Tackle, Junior Female and the Women's 50-lb Line Class.
*That's* a big fish!
wahoo.
Dang! I wish I had that in my freezer!
You could feed an army, I mean your family. :-)
Precisely. For a whole Lent!
Woooo! Hoo! ..that fish weighed more than the kid! Cool!
Can they eat it?
Ah, smoked wahooooooo.
Great eating.
OK - I'll bite. What does wahoo taste like. (Don't tell me chicken.)
That's a tough 15 year old girl. Don't mess with her.
Man, that a hugh "hoo". Bigger than any that I have ever caught and I fish offshore twice a week down here in South Florida. Congrats!
Good thing we tossed that one back in 2000.
Can't say I've ever eaten a fish like that?
I'm Irish, so we eat mainly trout, salmon, cod..etc?
What's that fish like? Chewy like monk fish? Shark? (I had that in Portugal once)..or is it more sword fish in taste and texture?
Damn - Al's got cellulite on his face. Arteries clogged lately, Al?
Very firm texture like swordfish.
They're supposed to be a delicacy.
They're few and far between up here in the mid-atlantic and I don't fish offshore more than 1-2 times a year, so I've never caught one, and I only eat fish I catch, pretty much.
Also supposedly the fastest swimming fish (or at least one of the contenders for the title.)
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