OFFSHORE FISHING YIELDS A PRIZE 282-POUND YELLOWFIN TUNA

Oct. 8, 2004, Josh Temple, Prime Time Adventures, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Fishing:

Jeff Erskine, fishing aboard Prime Time, wanted nothing more than a giant yellowfin tuna during his week of fishing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico during the first week of October 2004. Jeff, who has caught some nice yellowfin tuna up to 175 pounds in other locations, was seeking a true giant tuna over 200 pounds. The first few days of Puerto Vallarta fishing produced excellent catches of wahoo, dorado, and tunas up to 160 pounds but the group just couldn't break that magic 200 pound mark. On the very last day of fishing Capt. Josh made a tough decision to leave a hot bite on the pinnacle they had been fishing for the previous 3 days and made the call to travel south to a closer unmarked pinnacle where he had caught many giants over the years.

Arriving at the high spot just as grey light was dawning the team quickly deployed 3 live baits and hooked up almost immediately. Jeff, who was next in line for the rod, buckled into the Braid fighting harness and the fight was on. Pulling hard with over 40 pounds of drag on the fish Jeff fought the fish remarkably and although he was up against one of the toughest game fish in the world, succeeded in landing the 282-pound behemoth yellowfin tuna in good time, the fish of a lifetime!

The fish hit a live bait and was caught on 130# spectra with a top shot of 150# and a 400# leader w/ a 9/0 Eagle Claw circle hook. We caught 6 other Puerto Vallarta tuna from 85 - 160 pounds as well as some nice wahoo to 40 pounds and scored big time on a floating tree where we landed 3 dorado from 40 - 50 pounds.

(See "Mexico Fishing News" online for current fishing reports, photos, weather, and water temperatures from Puerto Vallarta and other major Mexican sportfishing areas. Vacation travel articles, fishing maps and seasonal calendars, and fishing related information for Puerto Vallarta may be found at Mexfish.com's main Puerto Vallarta page.