The Quad Before the Storm

Martin Penhaligon of Orlando and Trevor Millerberand of Winsted, Minnesota booked us for a full day of sailfishing, but there was a big storm coming so we would have to fish fast. Tornado warnings, gale force winds, and lightening were all forcasted for the afternoon, but it turned out that the storm was moving faster than expected. We decided to try anyway even though the skies were dark and the weather had already began to hit the folks north of us. We caught just a few baits and raced for the edge. Wes showed his experience by getting the kites up and baits out in a matter of seconds! With the weather closing in on us I was under alot of pressure to get these guys a bite. Less than five miniutes after we set out, a sail ate the left long and Trevor was on! Then another fish ate the left middle but broke off right away. All of the sudden a big blackfin tuna crashed on the right midddle, bit down on the hook and spit the bait out. Before we could react, Martin hooked a sail on the left short and we had the two fish we needed. As the guys were doing battle, two more sails ate the right side kite baits, Wes hooked em both and now we had a QUAD of sails with only two anglers! Wes faught one and left the other in the rod holder. Trevors fish was headed for the Bahamas and the other three fish swam together to the south. With the L&H in hot pursuit, we quickly got the release on Martins sail and things were looking good. A few minutes later Wes got the release on the second fish and Trevor had his fish coming. When he got the fish up we could see it was a trophy and Trevor decided to put it on his wall. We finally got the release on the fourth fish and high-tailed it for home. Unfortunately we did not beat the storm and were forced to plow through fifty knot winds and four foot seas in the bay. The L&H performed like a champ and got us back to the dock safely. What a rush! Four sails in only a matter of minutes and some of the nastiest weather I've seen in some time. We decided to finish the trip tomorrow and Trevor and Martin headed off to the hotel like drown rats.