Cowfish on the Kite w/Capt. Danny Osuna

[coldtuna]

I flew into PV on 11/5 and made my way to the La Cruz Inn (La Cruz Inn ..:":.. Puerto Vallarta - La Cruz de Huanacaxtle Mexico) at about 2:30 pm. This was my first time staying at the La Cruz Inn and I was pleasantly surprised. It is small and quite nice. Best of all, it is only a few blocks to the new La Cruz marina where the Osunas keep their boats. The ffice:smarttags" />Inn’s proprietors – John and Carol – are super nice people. I will be staying at the La Cruz Inn for all my trips next season. Danny Osuna lives one block away from the inn. Danny came by late afternoon and we talked about the plan for this trip. We decided to fish at el Banco on Tuesday am and he said he would pick me up at 6 am the following day.

11/6:

We left the la Cruz marina around 6:30 on Danny’s 32' twin diesel Blackfin and headed for el Banco.



It was a beautiful morning and the run out was smooth. We started fishing around 9 and made some skippies quickly. We trolled around for nada until about 2:30 pm. Danny was trying to decide if we should stick it out at el banco or head to Corbetena where there were reports of a lot of 100 to 150 pound tuna crashing. There was not much life at the banco and danny decided to head for corbetena. We arrived west of corbetena about 4 pm and started skipping a bait behind the kite. We also put out a couple lures short. We had a small blue marlin come into the lures and then an unidentified missed strike. After about 45 minutes, we had a nice tuna blow out on the kite bait and on the second pass, the tuna got the cabbie that was skipping like a flying fish. I put my penn 50SW in gear and we got the hookup. It took about five minutes to land the 110 pound tuna on my Penn 50 and Calstar 655XXH. I went to 40 pounds of drag quickly into the fight.fficeffice" />

We got the kite back out and it was nearly 5 pm and the sun was starting toward the horizon. There were a few other boats working the area and we trolled north and south through "the zone." The wind was from the west, so the kite flew east of the boat.

Danny and alvino had the kite working well and we made a turn and headed south. The sun was at my back as was the west wind and the cabbie skipped perfectly off the light afternoon chop like a flying fish.

There was a huge boil behind the cabbie as a big tuna took a vicious swipe at our bait going away from us. Danny saw the boil as did I and we both shouted. In a split second, the tuna turned and came back around and this time made its assault coming right at us. A huge vacona exploded out of a wave and inhaled our skippie -- the fish was coming directly at me and it came all the way out of the water in a shower of whitewater like I have never seen. We could see its huge eyes and it looked like a fat torpedo with shoulders.

I shouted "OHHHHHHHH!!!!" And danny was screaming "fucking 300 Pounder!!!!" Time seemed to stand still for a split second and I could not believe my eyes. I put the Penn 50 in gear and danny pushed the Marla's throttles forward. The line came tight and the Calstar 655XXH bent as the reel screamed. I picked up the rod out of the holder and line stared peeling off quickly -- 200 yards of 150 pound P-line Spectrex melted away. Danny was screaming "did you see that fucking cow? That fish is 300, don't you think?" I was shouting over the roar of the engines "YES! 300 pounder ... +#*@ing MONSTER TUNA!! BEST STRIKE I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!" The fish continued to burn the drags and another 250 yards of line was gone. Alvino was now on deck next to me and Danny was barking at him in spanish and Alvino was laughing "pince vacona" -- we'd been here together before.

Alvino got me into my trusty Smitty spyder harness and Smitty plate (which has become bent under the wear and tear of stand up fishing in PV with danny and alvino).

The fish finally settled down after nearly spooling the 650+ yards of spectra on my reel and Danny told me he would start backing down slowly -- this fish stayed on top and danny instructed me not to put too much drag on the fish. At this stage danny and I were discussing how big the fish was based on the strike. We both believed that it was a 300 pound class fish, and maybe even bigger. The strike was so violent and the fish looked huge - the only question was how big it was and whether or not we could put the fish on the deck.

After about 30 minutes the fish settled down and went deep. I pushed the drag past strike and started to bear down on the fish. Alvino later tested the drag and we were at 44 pounds of drag. The reel worked flawlessly and the custom Calstar rods that Louis at Bad-fish made for me were making life miserable for the big tuna and working beautifully even in my relatively poorly trained hands. We kept on for about an hour and 15 minutes and the sun was on the horizon before we got color the first time. The fish was in the 300 pound class, but we could not tell how big.

We got our first shot at the big tuna and alvino made it count sticking the big cow right in the throat. The fish was spent, thrashed a little and danny hit it with gaff #2.

I put the rod down and we got the gaffs situated properly. We tried once to drag it over the rail, but failed. On the second attempt, we got her into the cockpit. Danny said 300 pounds and high fives all around in addition to a lot of "did you see that big fucker explode on the cabbie?!!!"




The sun was setting and we quickly stowed the gear and cut a path back to La Cruz. The big cow looked long, but was skinny in the belly. I thought it was longer than the 300 pound fish we got at the banco in september, but thinner. I thought the banco fish was bigger than this one.. Danny felt it was long enough to be over 300 in spite of the skinny belly. Back in la cruz, we took some pics and upon closer inspection danny said the fish was quite a bit shorter than the 371 he got in Oct. We weighed the fish and she came in at 295 -- definately a little skinny in the belly, but a gorgeous cowfish anywhere anytime.



By the time we'd weighed the fish it was 9:30 pm. Since the bite was late afternoon, we agreed to leave at 8:30 am the following day and fish until dark. I thanked alvino and danny for another great day and another unforgetable experience for the memory bank.

11/7:

I met danny at 8:45 am and we loaded the boat leisurely and made our way to corbetena by about 10:30. It was gorgeous on the bay -- light breeze and sunny. We did not make any skipjack at corbetena, but instead headed west of the rock with the 50 cabbies we'd bought this morning.

We started skipping the kite, but did not get bit. We switched to drifting with cabbies and caught half a dozen dorado. The dorado were wide open and a pest if one was trying for tuna like we were. We kept busy as the day wore on and went back to the kite in the late afternoon. It did not take long before we had a blow out and we put a 90 pounder on the deck. Baits back out and a 110 pounder skyrocketed on the cabbie -- 7 minutes and that one hit the deck. Back to it and in 15 minutes a 120 pounder erupted on our skip bait and we had another hook up. This fish was no match for 40 pounds of drag and the calstar glass blank and it fell to alvino's gaff in five minutes.

We had one more blow up on the skip bait, but I missed it. We hooked a dorado or two somewhere in there and released those. We headed for the barn at sunset arriving in La Cruz around 8:30 pm with 3 tuna (90, 110, 120) and a bunch of dorado for the day. Another great day of fishing in Puerto Vallarta.

11/8:

Last day of the trip and the final day of the season for me. After waiting all through the winter of 2007 for my shots at the big Vallarta tuna and marlin, I could not believe that the last day of the season was upon me.

We again left La Cruz at 8:30, took our time, had a nice breakfast on the boat and enjoyed the nice weather. We headed west of the rock hoping to hook another cow on the kite. There we're maybe 20 boats working the area today and alvino got the kite out and deployed in minutes. We started skipping the cabbie and in 5 minutes had a 120 pounder come all the way out of the water and take the bait -- I hooked up and we were back in business that quickly. We landed the fish quickly and went back to work. We did not get a bite for half an hour and danny decided to drift with cabbies and fly the kite with the double trouble rig.

Almost immediately, the dorado found us. Danny and alvino got a couple, and I farmed a few. The dorado were all over the kite bait -- nice fish too - 25 to 30 pounds. I finally got a few (that we released). I think Alvino lost a tuna, then ended up landing a 90 pounder (he offered me the handoff, but I said no). We got a triple header going - alvino and I had dorado and danny had a nice tuna. We got the dorado (released alvinos and kept mine) and danny was still fighting his tuna. He got in my smitty harness and plate and was having a good time. He was on a good fish, maybe 150, but had only 100 pound leader so he could not put too much juice on the fish. He finally got color and got the fish into gaff range. Alvino did not take the first gaff shot he had and the leader broke at boat side. Danny was a little bummed. If alvino would have gaffed the fish, we would have gotten it (at least that is danny's story and he is sticking to it).

Anyway, we went back to fishing and alvino got bit again and hooked another tuna (I was not getting any tuna bites). Alvino said he thought it was a small fish, so I told him to take it. He ended up fighting the 150 pounder for 20 minutes before danny gaffed it. I jumped in with the goggles to watch the tuna circling below the boat – very cool to see in the clear blue water.

We went back to skipping the kite and did that until just before sunset. We also tried drifting with cabbies near the rock as the sunset, but only caught a 20 pound horse eyed jack although it looked really fishy at the Rock.




We made it back to La Cruz at 9 pm and enjoyed the run in the dark -- the stars were amazing and the weather was perfect. For the day we got about 10 dorado (several released) and 3 tuna (90, 120, 150). Another great day.

For three days, we got 8 tuna with several of those over 100 pounds and the one 295 pound cowfish on the kite. We also caught a bunch of dorado and could have caught many more if we wanted to.

Danny and Alvino we're superb again and put in the extra effort to give me a shot at another trophy fish -- which we got.

Danny came by the la Cruz inn on Thursday night and we talked about the trip, the big cow we got this time -- the unreal strike on the kite and the amazing 2007 season. I summed the 2007 season up with one word -- unbelievable. For the season with Danny I caught at least 10 tuna over 100 pounds (but less than 200), a small blue marlin, 4 black marlin including one at 550 and a monster in the 700 pound class. Finally, I got three huge tuna from 295 to 322 pounds. Here is a photo recap of some of the highlights.
















Thanks one more time to Danny and Alvino for a great season and memories that will last a lifetime.

If you want hard core world class big game fishing with quality people at a reasonable price, get in touch with Danny and his brothers at marlas_fishing@yahoo.com.mx , or Marla's Sportfishing - Big Game fishing in Puerto Vallarta. I already have my dates booked for the 2008 season, and am looking forward to taking a shot at it again next year.

[Ms.Mackey]

Congratulations amazing fish great pics awesome read

thanks

[wahoodad]

You the man Merle. Good going, nice report to get me pumped as I step out the door for my 11 day trip on the RR3.

[cretin]

WOW

[Mstonefish]

You have had a stellar season, unbelieveable.


I thought that fish was going to be your biggest yet..............Congrats

[ALUMINATOR]

Very nice read!! congrats on a nother great trip

[squidnation]

Great post. That explosion must have been tits!

[coldtuna]

Originally Posted by wahoodad

You the man Merle. Good going, nice report to get me pumped as I step out the door for my 11 day trip on the RR3.

David,

Thanks. I was fortunate to have good weather this year, and have chances at some big fish. Most importantly, I was fishing with a great captain.

Good luck on your 11 day trip.

Merle

[coldtuna]

Originally Posted by Mstonefish

You have had a stellar season, unbelieveable.


I thought that fish was going to be your biggest yet..............Congrats

Mark,

Thanks.

Both Danny and I thought the fish might be north of 350 after seeing the strike and during the fight. The explosion on the strike was like nothing I have ever seen. Danny had me take it easy on the drag because he felt it was in that size class. He wanted it basically dead when it came to the boat so that Alvino could handle it for 10 seconds with one gaff. Once we got it along side the boat and gaffed it, we saw it was not in the 350 range, but rather 300 or maybe a little more.

It was a great way to cap off an amazing season.

Merle

[coldtuna]

Originally Posted by ALUMINATOR

Very nice read!! congrats on a nother great trip

Thanks Dennis.

Merle

[Gil Marlin]

Awesome...

[JoeDude]

" For the season with Danny I caught at least 10 tuna over 100 pounds (but less than 200), a small blue marlin, 4 black marlin including one at 550 and a monster in the 700 pound class. Finally, I got three huge tuna from 295 to 322 pounds."

Dude, that is just ridiculous. Congratulations on one epic season man...I was just there the 1st - 4th...not a tuna in site...amazing how quickly things can turna around.