Delaware State Record Golden Tilefish

[Vince Luciani]

I still haven't had any luck selling the old girl so I had her boat out in the Poorman's on Saturday searching for bigeye and yellowfin tuna but didn't have any luck. So we switched to Tilefishing and found the mother lode! We ended up breaking the Delaware State record with a 52.8 lb tilefish. The little boy in the green shirt reeled it in. All of the fish that were caught were citation class fish. In fact, one weighed 54.9 lbs but did not qualify for a state record because it was caught on an electric reel. The old girl can catch some fish!

[CamB25]

WOW! Great day!

[Carl]

Looks like a great day!

Great job catching.

[Priceless]

Saw his 31 and came by to say high. They had bags of fillets and I asked him where they got the tuna. Almost crapped when he said it was tiles. Strong work Vince. That boat looks like a great bargain for a 31 aficionado. They tell me the kid who caught it had a 36 pounder on the line with it. He’s a beast.

[Tony Meola]

Vince

That is just great. How about given us a primer on Tile Fishing.

Delaware State Record, that is a great feeling.

[bob lico]

a fish of a life time. i like the taste of them. i cannot believe someone does not by that boat like what not to like?

[Vince Luciani]

Yes, it was a good day. Those kids are still buzzing about it! They definitely have a memory for a lifetime. Seeing the excitement in those kids warms my heart.

Pat, it was great to meet you and put a face to the boat (Priceless). I’m glad we got to do it. And yes, that fish he caught was part of a double header. I posted the photo below as proof. He was a tough little kid. I stayed next to him during the entire battle and let him know several times that there is no shame in handing off the rod if he got tired. He wasn’t haven’t any of that as he was determined to land that fish himself.

Bob, honestly, I have not had one person come and look at the boat yet. I have had some interest by way of phone calls and messaging, etc. but no one has had enough interest to come and look at it. I guess it’s a really soft market because of COVID, economy, etc. I feel like my boat is priced right. It really is “turnkey” as evidenced by my canyon trip on Saturday. She make lack all the bells and whistle aesthetics of some of the real head turners, but she has good “bones”. I am motivated to sell and someone is going to get a good boat for a price.

Regarding tilefishing tips I am not so cocky as to call myself an expert, but I do have a lot of years under my belt now doing it. I would say that the biggest factor contributing to your success is the purchase of an electric reel! This allows you to prospect many different areas without tiring the crew with hand cranking 2 or more pounds of sinker weight from 1000 foot depths. People give up pretty quick on tilefishing when they strike out after a few drops. You have to put your time in with it. With the electric reel you can prospect new areas on and around the 100 fathom line and if you find them then you can drop with conventional outfits. Another related factor to the success is that you have to have a crew who is willing to put the work and effort that it takes to take in the trolling spread, rig the tilefishing gear, do prospecting and then re-deploy the trolling gear.

You have probably read that they prefer soft bottom versus hard bottom and that has been my experience. I can’t say that I have had success reading my sounder to identify the soft bottom. Usually, we wait until we drop and can feel the bottom with our sinker.
Over the years you begin to accumulate numbers of where you caught fish in the past and these are great to save a trip when you strikeout on the troll. Having said that, we have found that our largest fish have been caught in areas that we had never fished before. This was the case last Saturday. We randomly picked a spot in about 850 feet of water and immediately hooked the largest fish (54.9 lbs) on the electric reel. After that we circled back on the same spot and found the four others. Like all fishing, a little bit of luck was involved!

Everyone should try it. The kids absolutely love it. I personally think they are a beautiful looking fish (and delicious!). And lastly, anyone who says they don’t fight hard and float to the surface, etc. has never caught a big one.

[John F.]

Vince-

Great work, and great job making a lifetime memory.

I saw your boat in February in Lewes, and spent a sleepless night thinking about selling Crows Nest and buying your B31. I have no idea why your B31 hasn't sold. It looks like one of the best deals on a B31 that I've seen in the past 20 years. GLWS

John

[Stephan]

Vince-
Well done and congratulations.
Stephan

[Tony Meola]

Vince

Great Story and a lot of great memories made for the kids. Long after we are gone, they will still talk about it.

[John Nardi]

Congrats Vince!!! Awesome catch

[Priceless]

Hey Vince, when you get a chance give me a call. 410 726 8810. Pat

[scenarioL113]

Awesome job to your crew!

BTW I looked at your classified and there is no logical reason why you cant sell that boat. Looks like it has about $100K in upgrades (half that just in the iron). If I was in the market I would come take a look. That is a fishing machine and prob not a bad cruiser either. It may not be a "show" boat but it is done "right" and used for what it was made for.

As long as the mechanical parts are in proper working condition I would see no reason not to jump on it (I am sure they are!!!)

Great setup with EZ PZ Cummins!

Good luck

Frank