Outdoors Can't Wait : Tuna Time !!!

    Got a call from an old buddy and best friend a couple of months ago ,who ask me to give him a hand on his commercial fishing vessel ,fishing for tuna in the Gulf of Mexico ! Me being who I am could not refuse . So the mental and physical preparing began . It starts with mowing the lawn(helps with leg strength),then to clean up shed (tight quarters work training) then straight to getting clothes picked out and packed (no relevance at all) There I'm all set now the wait to get the final call !
    My captain was waiting for legal papers to arrive that need to be attached the the boat before departing on the next trip ,so the waiting game begins ! This is the extreme mental prep part ! Then out of the blue (no pun intended) I get the call ! In two days my wife take s me to Tim's house (the capt./owner) where it all begins !
     The day was here and all was packed and ready ! After pacing for the last four hours we are off to pick up Tim ! Yep pick up Tim and head to the bus station to catch a ride of 9 hrs to Bayou La Batre Alabama ,where the boat is docked ! After a while the bus arrives and a kiss and a hug later from my wife, Tim and I are off to Bama !

After a super long bus ride and hardly any sleep ,the morning is full of chores and gear work ! Such as loading this five mile spool of mono onto the mainline spool ! After the spools loaded we get Ice and bait and head out ! About a Day of motoring and making about 200 leaders we are almost to our first set !

                                                    

After ten sets of  twenty seven miles of line and eight hundred plus hooks  each set later we are back at port and unloading ! Tuna after tuna ,after tuna ,after tuna and occasional sword and mahi the trip is done ! Payday has arrived and is well deserved ! Although the trip was fun and brought back many memories of days long gone ,this ole man's day of the long line fishing  have come to an end ! Yes it's true and sad that this old salt will not be venturing out to the great blue in search of the mighty tuna and sword on a commercial boat ever again ! With the utmost respect mother ocean ,I bid thee farewell ......................... for now !