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John Cranston has been planning a trip to mexico to go fishing for about a month or more. He kept telling me all he wanted was a black. He went on and on about it, and the fishing for blacks has not been good lately. I had warned him that we might just hook up a 5 gallon bucket to a rod and tell him it was a black and let him go at it(what are friends for?). Well today I got a call that he had caught and released a 400lb black on a tld25 with 30lb line. My bullshit meter was going off, so I made a couple of calls and independantly confirmed that he did actually do it, but the mate estimated the weight around 350+, in about 45 minutes. John did say he got out of the chair and felt the fish to confirm it was a fish and the type.

My hat is off to him, what he did today is no easy task. Pics to follow once I get them.


BrianB

Way to go John!!! Glad the trip is going great, and you just got started.

ScottD

John kicks ass again.

John that is awsome dude! Good Job

great job by john.....way to go!!

Congrads. All the way around. Great accomplishment.

John,

Pretty work!

Br,

Patrick

Nice...Very Nice !!!

another great accomplishment from a terrific guy!!

John,

You Da Man!!

Holy Crap.....

You guys are going to make him feel like he's normal or something.....

I mean.......it was one thing telling him that the paint job on his boat was properly done, but this is just too much.

Listen John....... let us know when you catch a grander on a Barbie rod loaded with 6 pound.

Stay Mean, brother.

Awesome!! I wish I could say that I had done that!!

Damn! Gitter done man, you rock!

R,
DQ

Go git 'em, JOHN!

So Ohlstein, where's yours?
Git'em John, do it the hard way, standing up in a hammock.

Picking up the barbie rod tomorrow and heading for the deep.....

ill bring my surfboard.....maybe i can catch a mahi with the barbie rod from my board at one of those lobster pots at the tails. these guys probably think im kidding.

Nice John. Not an easy feat by any means. Congratulations.

Randall-don't laugh. Several years ago I was at the Miami Boat show and Gary Burghdoff ( Radar O'Reilly of MASH fame) was marketing a chum pot mounted in a 6' x 6' square of some sort of floating board. The concept was to set the pot and board off your boat while offshore and have it thethered by a thin rope. the chum and shade created by the board would attract fish you would eventually cast to from your boat. Walter

not laughing...drilling a hole in the nose of an old board to use as a rod holder while i paddle.

dont mean to hijack johns thread so ill congratulate him again.

Thanks Fellows,

Mike O, I am "The Man"...Period...Don't forget that...

Next, I am going to climb Mt. Everest...naked.

The fish was three feet wider than the back of the boat and the Captain guessed 190 kilos, what ever the hell that means.

Grand tally was (1) Black Marlin, (25) Sail Fish, (30) Bull Dorado (20 - 40 lbs), (2) YFTs; we each brought back 40 lbs of filets. Last day we had a big Blue in the spread but didn't take the bait.

Thanks to Brian and Lisa Barragy for a fantastic trip. Huatulco is a beautiful, fun and easy place to go; 2.5 hours non-stop from Houston and 20 minutes from the airport. Mountains, beautiful water, fantastic beaches, very friendly people. Everything was inexpenseive around town; food, taxi's, etc.

p.s. Next time, I am going to use light tackle.

John

You are, John.

Proud to know you.

TSorry the picutres could not be better. Pam
Black Marlin - on the move

Up Close to Bertram 31 so John could touch - See the Bertram T-Shirt

This is John & Crew w/ Rod & Reel - picture quality not the greatest

Sorry for the typing - I hit the wrong button "submit" instead of "preview"

Pam

Awesome!!