Tale of the Tow Boat US bluefin tuna hat-trick

August 2, 2022

2073

Screen Shot 2022-08-02 at 2.37.52 PM — MADMAC MADNESS – The summer’s hottest tuna lure — the Nomad MadMac — does the business again with three bluefin on deck, albeit in highly unusual circumstances.

BY BOBBY MARTINEZ

Last Tuesday morning, my friends Garrett, Brian and I headed out towards The Snail from Long Beach, LA County but just short of arriving the boat stalled out on us at 8:45 a.m. and we couldn’t get it restarted. We then called for assistance and they dispatched a Tow Boat US vessel from Long Beach, but they gave an ETA of 2 hours due to the fact that we were, by then, 45 miles offshore.

An hour and a half later we see the Tow Boat US vessel charging toward us and he politely asks if we are ok and if we had caught any tuna. We replied with sad faces, “No…” Conner from Tow Boat took a look at our gear and said: “I’ll try to get you up to a speed where you can troll and possibly catch a tuna.”

TOW BOAT TUNA – One of three bluefin tuna caught under tow by Bobby Martinez. After a disappointing breakdown, they thought their day was done but the slow troll home yielded five bites.

Well, 10 minutes later, we hooked another and landed that one as well. We continued on hooking tuna, landing 3 with 1 lost to a hook-pull and yet another spooled us.

So, after we got moving, we immediately put out a pair of Nomad MadMacs on Daiwa Saltiga 2-speed reels and we got bit 15 minutes into the tow. After a great fight, we were in disbelief as we gaffed a 100-pound-plus bluefin — we then said to each other: “Do you think we will hook another?”

Well, 10 minutes later, we hooked another and landed that one as well. We continued on hooking tuna, landing 3 with 1 lost to a hook-pull and yet another spooled us.

Hats off to Conner from Tow Boat US for going above and beyond the call of duty in rescuing us and helping us to catch three big bluefin in the process!