After the third day trip we have to take a break, the reason because of strong North West winds. Steve and Duck think that this is positive, because most times the big fish are coming in after strong wind. The local guys are thinking that rough winds and high seas are the best tuna weather.

The next day it seems that they are right – Heiko caught a fish 273 pounds, Stefan Mayer-Mendel caught a really nice blue shark, and we had two Bluefins over 200 pounds.

On the last day of the competition, Heiko caught a 336 pound fish early this morning, and we think we are not able to catch a bigger fish before the day is over. Without a warning we have a strong strike in the afternoon. Stephan is ready to take place in the fighting chair. After twenty-five minutes we land a beautiful Bluefin tuna and the crew guessed that it is over 500 pounds. At 5:30 pm the competition is over and Stephan is still number one. Stephan’s fish was a little big short in length, that why he ‘just’ had 444 pounds.

In the evening we had the award trophy and a nice get-together with great food. A real honor for us and the other anglers was a special guest Ken Fraser. Thomas invited his friend Ken to our get-together, and to hand the trophy to the award winner. Short information for people who don’t know who Ken Fraser is: He is a Tuna fishing pioneer, and caught on October 26th 1979 the 130 lbs. IGFA line class World Record Bluefin Tuna weighting 1496 lbs. He was one of the most successful tuna skippers of the world.

Our crew the evening were not partying that evening very late – as Steve and Duck know the bigger fish have arrived! Also, the next day, our plane is leaving in the evening, that why our time frame is pretty tight. A maximum of four hours of fishing and three hours back to the air port seems pretty stressful -but possible. At 5:00 am we meet Steve and Duck on the boat, and they were already waiting with a running engine. The last time this year – out in the dark on the Atlantic Ocean. It seems like Steve has a mysterious feeling this morning, with a combination of a kind of nervousness. He said he’s able to smell feeding whales and to locate them. He’s pretty sure that when you find the feeding whales there is herring, and that means there are big tuna there as well. After a half an hour we are on the open sea and it is still dark. On the horizon the sun is coming up really slow and we are witnessing a really lucky moment.

For us this was a magic fishing moment. At this moment Steve is operating the boat with just one foot, and the rest of his body hanging out the window with his nose stuck in the wind. Stephan and I were searching for birds and seals during this time, and suddenly Steve gave us the command ‘Guys, eject the baits immediately!’ We are right in the middle of a lot of seals and birds, and it seems like they are all waiting for something. The down bait is already out and we are just ready to set the kite. Not even twenty meters from the boat a seal is watching us, and he is swimming towards the down bait and starts diving. At the same time the floater goes down and the line starts to scream from the reel. Stephan looked at me and he gave me the chance to fight probable the last Bluefin for this year. I am sitting in the fighting chair and the fish on the other end is still taking line from the reel. I realized then what I have to do for the next hours. The first run the fish goes down deep and take a couple hundred meters of line. Just to get the chance to get some line back I have to puss the drag to a maximum.

As a well trained cyclist, I can handle this fish on 130 lb. gear pretty good. The only thing that makes me nervous is the 1.5mm mono leader and the small 8-0 hook. After 45 minutes the fish came to the surface for the first time but still approximately 100 meters from the boat. The boys were quietly whispering “Maybe bigger than…” Every time when I had some line back, the fish would then take more off the reel. That procedure was happened about ten times. Finally the fish comes to the boat and starts circling; that’s the dangerous part of a Bluefin fight – One little mistake the fish is diving under the boat! Steve is not only a professional with presenting the bait and finding the spots, he’s also handling his boat with perfection. All of a sudden the fish comes up to the surface not even 5 meters away from the boat – it seems like he is tired out and ready for landing. Just another three times cranking the reel, and the job is done. We are overwhelmed with excitement to have the possibility to catch such a wonderful creature at the ‘last minute’. Back the harbor at the weigh station, the scale stops at 791lbs. In a hurry we head back to the cabin to pack our luggage and we are on our way back to Halifax airport. After three hours on the highway, a quick check-in, and another six hours later, we are safe back in Frankfurt, Germany.