Jim Lidell Gets 20 Sailfish

Jim Lidell and his son Darrin have been fishing with me for the past few years and we have had many great trips including a nice blue marlin, but nothing could compare to the day we were about to have.  Unfortunately today Darrin was unable to make it, so Jim was joined by his wife and another couple.  I had fished the day before with Louis Isasis, owner of the beautiful 68 foot "Jichi"  and we saw more sailfish that I have seen all season so I knew right where they were.  We got bait and headed for the area where we had seen the fish the day before.  The conditions looked great and I just knew it was going to be a big day.  Jim and Trav put the kites up and set out the baits.  Before they had everything out we got attacked by a hungry pack of sailfish.  Within seconds we had five sails on and jumping all over the place!  Unfortunately we were very unlucky with the "five bagger" and were only able to release one of them, losing the other four for a variety of reasons.  Not worrying to much about our "bad luck" I raced the L&H to get back in front of the pack of hungry sails.  As soon as the first bait went out we were on!  Our team continued to get sailfish bites the entire morning catching some and losing some.  Double and triple headers were the norm for the day, not the exception!  By noon time we had released eleven sailfish out of twenty bites!  With a strong current we were now several miles from our original starting point and I decided to run back and reset at the same place we had started our day.  As I rode the tower looking for more fish, Jim came up and said "Eleven sails on our first pass, were off to a great start cap!!!!!" and he was right.  When the L&H  reached the area where we started the morning, we were greeted with a triple header only minutes after baits went out.  As the afternoon wore on, we continued catching and catching and catching sailfish.  By late afternoon our talley was nineteen sailfish releases out of thirty-four bites!  I desperately wanted to get number twenty!  As I scanned the horizon for just one more fish I saw what I was looking for.  A sailfish was free jumping over a half mile away, but the only problem was that there was another boat between us and the free jumper.  Fearing this was our last shot I decided to make a very bold move!  "REEL EM IN THE AIR"  I ordered the crew and turned the L&H with the wind and punched it!  This was very dangerous because there was a good chance the kites could fall in the water and break and we could possibly ruin hundreds of dollars worth of gear.  I pushed the throttles hard and the big motors roared to life!  I had to maneuver around the other boat, get in position to bait the free jumping sail, keep the kites up while going with the wind, and do all this before the baits died from hanging in the air.  Somehow everything worked and I got to the spot where I thought the sailfish would be!  "Drop the baits in the water" I yelled from the tower!  The guys dropped the baits and the Instant the left long hit the water, the sailfish was all over it.  "I'm getting a bite"  Jim shouted with enthusiasm!  The sail took the the air and I was in hot pursuit.  We backed down fast and less than a minute Travis grabbed the leader and released the Twentieth sailfish of the day unharmed!  It was such a great feeling and down in the cockpit everyone was going bananas!  It was another wonderful day for Jim Lidell and the L&H!