TEMECULA: Temecula fisherman lands 313-pound tuna

Paul Palmer: 'I am still in disbelief'

By AARON CLAVERIE - Staff Writer | Saturday, January 10, 2009 6:08 PM PST ∞

TEMECULA ---- When the tip of the rod bobbed and weaved and he watched the high-test line unspool off the reel in violent bursts, Paul Palmer knew.

The 63-year-old Temecula resident knew he had something big on the other end, something that might let him check off a box on his "bucket list."

But he didn't know how big.

Before he left on his trip ---- a 10-day deep sea fishing adventure off the coast of Mexico ---- Palmer said he had been hoping for a 100-pound tuna, a good-sized fish that would be a great haul on his first long-range voyage.

After fighting the something big and getting it headed to the boat, Palmer and the deckhands at his side saw color, a shimmering swatch of yellow under the water's surface.

That color, as Palmer soon found out, belonged to a 313-pound yellowfin tuna.

"Fish of a lifetime," Palmer said during a phone interview last week.

The tuna was, by far, the largest fish Palmer had ever landed and it turned out to be the jackpot-winning fish on Palmer's excursion on the San Diego-based Red Rooster III.

Palmer said he was talked into booking a spot on the boat, which docked back in San Diego last week, by a friend from work.

It was his first long-range trip, an invariably interesting experience that includes hours of energy-sapping tedium, moments of line-crossing chaos and stretches of zen calm that are enhanced by spectacular sunsets.

Palmer was joined on the trip by a friend from work, and he said he made some new friends among the 22 other fishermen on the Rooster.

For many of the veteran fishermen on the trip, landing a 300-pound fish has been a long-standing goal, Palmer said.

"They've been doing this for years and years and here comes this newbie," he said.

When some of those veterans saw his fish hit the deck, Palmer said he received a few "stares."

Before the 313-pound fish, a monster that outweighed Palmer by about 115 pounds, the largest fish Palmer had landed was a 35-pound tuna.

Palmer caught the big fish Jan. 3, the last fishing day of the trip.

The Rooster was circling in an area about 70 miles off the Mexican shoreline that is called the lower bank, a spot about 700 miles south of the U.S. border. Palmer said there were five other big U.S. boats in the same area.

Palmer would find out when he stepped off the boat Monday that the fishermen on the Rooster and those other boats were a part of what some veteran fishermen have called the best day ever for San Diego-based boats. In addition to Palmer's catch, there were 19 other 300-pound yellowfin landed that same day, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Palmer said each of the men on the Rooster were taking turns using the boat's kite fishing rig, a line attached to a kite that is flown far away from the boat.

Toward the end of his time on the kite rig, the monstrous tuna attacked Palmer's bait, a footlong squid hanging on a big hook.

Palmer said he kept that hook, a Mustad 7731D, as a souvenir.

As Palmer fought the big tuna, many of the other guys kept throwing bait in the water, hoping to hook into one of the migratory fish's traveling buddies.

When the fight dragged on, a few guys sensed something big was on the other end of the line and they started taking pictures.

Palmer was using an Accurate 80 reel and a Calstar 760 XH rod with 130-pound line provided by the boat.

Several days after the catch, Palmer said he was still in disbelief.

"I have been fishing most of my life and took up saltwater fishing out of an ocean kayak about two years ago. I have medium-sized offshore fishing gear, but nothing that would handle a 100-pound tuna," Palmer said. 

Fixing that situation, one of Palmer's good friends from work loaned him his heavy saltwater gear.

"This incredible catch of my life was based on friendships and the captain of the Red Rooster III having the drive and determination to place his passengers in the right place at the right time," he said.

With his 100-pound tuna bucket list item crossed off, Palmer was asked about his new goals.

"I also want to catch a big wahoo," he said.

Contact staff writer Aaron Claverie at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or aclaverie@californian.com.