It’s already been a remarkable yellowfin season, one for the ages. While speaking with buddies – 66 miles east of Manasquan at the time, heading west with five in the box – we joked if these epic conditions weren’t somehow related to COVID-19. Then the laughs turned to seriousness. While I don’t have all the federal harvest data, it’s entirely possible that we’ve had more yellowfin offshore because the Carolina fleet dealt with reduced commercial seafood demand in the spring, taking fewer yellowfin to market in April and May.
No doubt, the “tax man” has taken his share from June through August; the tax man being the affectionate term for sharks pulling an Old Man and the Sea routine and taking a bite or two out of hooked fish. I had quite a few reports this season of tuna being mauled by sharks during the battle, the common phrase “the tax man takes his share” especially appropriate in 2020. Then again, taking $100,000 worth of tuna was a little hard to swallow for the crew of the aptly named Shark Byte.
While competing on the second day of the 2020 MidAtlantic tournament with Capt. Rich Barrett (yes, Pete’s son) at the helm, the crew of Peter Cherasia’s Shark Byte out of Rumson, NJ teased a 791-pound blue marlin into the spread. “She came up on the left teaser and I grabbed a 50 and dropped the bait back to her,” Cherasia said later in the official MidAtlantic wrap-up. “Once we got a look at her I grabbed the 80 and dropped it back.” Cherasia said the big blue took three swipes at the bait, her massive bill swatting it twice before engulfing the bait on swipe number three.
“The first time we had her to the boat Jake (Flynn) grabbed the leader and put about 50% pressure on her but couldn’t hold her and she took about 150 to 200 yards of line off,” Cherasia said, adding “On the second try he put about 75% resistance but still couldn’t get her close and she took about 100 yards out on us.” On the third try the big blue was finally tiring, which is when things got a little dicey.
“Blaine (Champlain) sunk the gaff in her but the head of the flyer didn’t come out and he was in a bad spot on the coverboard and got pulled over the side,” says Cherasia. With all the focus suddenly shifting away from the big fish and towards the crew member suddenly in the water, teammates Dickie Campbell and Pete Hargett rushed to get Champlain back into the boat. At that instant, a large shark, possibly a mako or a tiger, appeared from below the Shark Byte and took a large chunk out of the billfish.
With Champlain safely back aboard, two more fly gaffs were sunk in the marlin by Hargett and Cherasia and the billfish was finally subdued. Once the crew pulled the marlin through the Shark Byte’s transom door it became clear that the tax man had struck; thank God it took a bite of the marlin and not Champlain! Regrettably, there’s a clause in the IGFA’s International Angling Rules closely followed by the MidAtlantic tournament that calls for a fish to be disqualified if any mutilation to the fish, prior to landing or boating the catch, caused by sharks, other fish, mammals, or propellers occurs.
“Disqualifying a fish is never easy, especially a magnificent catch like this, but the Shark Byte team was polite and professional through the entire process,” said Tournament President Rick Weber in summing up the situation. “That shark may have cost them their prize, but the story and memories they’ll have forever,” he said.
How much prize money? Roughly $110,772, give or take. And you thought Uncle Sam was bad!
See this week’s News Briefs for more MidAtlantic results.
