ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 19, 1996 TAG: 9602200002
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
For most saltwater fishermen who live in the hills of Virginia, the road to Cape Hatteras, N.C. usually is one not taken January through March. But huge bluefin tuna have changed the dates being circled on angling calendars.
A new fishery was discovered in the winter of 1994 when several Hatteras locals started catching bluefin tuna around wrecks less than 20 miles from shore. The discovery of these majestic fish, which scientists say probably have been there for eons, came at a time when bluefin numbers were reported to be dangerously low.
By January 1995, the word was spreading and the water was being probed by some of the top fishermen in the world.
``What was found was nothing short of astounding,'' reported the International Game Fish Association (IGFA). John Morris, an IGFA trustee, experienced a trip when 31 tuna were caught and released. Other boats were catching and releasing as many as 50 tuna per trip. Many of the fish weighed 400 to 600 pounds and more.
But that was pale in comparison with March 20, when Capt. Peter Wright and a crew that included Stewart Campbell hooked and released tuna from dawn to dark. ``Nothing in the annals of bluefin tuna fishing would compare with the action that took place,'' the IGFA reported.
Campbell caught his first of the day at 7:27 a.m. and remained in the fighting chair for the next 111/2 hours. By 6:55 p.m., he had hooked and released 73 tuna.
The big question: Was the bluefin bonanza a rare gift from above, or would the fish reappear this winter?
They have.
``They are in full swing,'' said Alan Yeingst, who works at the Red Drum tackle shop in Buxton, N.C. Yeingst caught a 750-pounder this season, but the guru of the tuna action is his boss, Bob Eakes, owner of Red Drum.
Last season Eakes, who is best know as a surf-fishing expert, used his 35-foot boat, the Bullfrog, to catch 450 bluefins. He tagged all but about 100, with the hope of learning more about the movements of these giants.
One tuna he released was estimated to weigh 1,000 pounds. Another spotted in a slick was believed to be 1,200 pounds.
Yeingst rates the fishing just as good this season, but you always have to deal with the weather in an area known as the ``Graveyard of the Atlantic.''
``The boats get out two days of the week at the most, sometimes three,'' said Yeingst.
Competition for charter boats is brisk, even through the rate is $800 per day. Fishermen have been calling from as far away as California, Japan and Germany. The action is expected to last into early April.
While the fishing is mostly catch-and-release - you can keep one tuna between 57 and 73 inches - anglers and fishery managers are expressing concern about the vulnerability of the species. No one can be certain how many of the released fish survive.
Their fight is spectacular, the kind that rips apart tackle and even can pose danger to fishermen.
In a conservation effort, some fishermen - Claude Bain of Virginia Beach is one of them - are using heavy spinning outfits to cast a large, hookless surface lure just to observe the spine-tingling strike and feel the brute strength of a tuna without harming the fish.
``You want something that just sits there,'' said Bain, who took a vacation from his duties as chairman of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament to go tuna fishing. ``You put the lure out on the water, let it sit, then chug it just one time and then let it sit again. All of a sudden the water will explode around it and they will take off with it.
``They pull the line off your spinning rod and spit it out, then you can reel in and do the whole thing over. You can get 99 percent of the thrill of that kind of tuna fishing - the strike. He rolls up on that plug on the surface and grabs it and streaks off 10 or 15 yards before he figures out this isn't something he wants and he spits it out. You reel it in and do it all over again.''
Bain uses the word ``awesome'' to describe the action.
``They are so close you can reach out and touch them,'' he said. ``It is unbelievable. ``If you like any kind of fishing at all, this is something you've got to do at least once in your lifetime.''
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ED WILKERSON. After discovering a winter hideout offby CNBHatteras, N.C., anglers have been catching huge bluefin tuna in
unbelievable numbers.