One of the more memorable lines from a movie is when Forrest Gump stated that “My mama always said, life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get!” And, while he was referring to something completely different, the line could easily be used to describe what you might or might not expect when fishing the Atlantic Ocean. That line came to mind just a couple of days ago, as four of us were headed out from the dock at Margate City, New Jersey, at 2:00 a.m. in hopes of catching a few yellowfin tuna. We were aboard the Free Spirit, chartered by Captain Steve Bent, who has been operating these charters up and down the east coast since 1978.

This was not our first charter with Captain Bent, and he has always worked hard to put us on the “X” where the fish we are targeting are located. Previously, we have brought home tuna and sea bass, but this trip was to have a different twist to it. On the 4 hour and 30-minute ride to the Wilmington Canyon, he laid out the plan for the day’s fishing. Once we reached the canyon, we would target yellowfin tuna, and if the fishing slowed up, we would go after tilefish. When he mentioned the tilefish, we all looked at one another, wondering what they were since none of us had ever heard of them before. With our curiosity peaked, we returned our focus to tuna. That was our main interest, after all, and a fish that we all enjoy at the dinner table.

A little after 6:30 a.m., and as we were nearing the canyon, the Captain throttled back the engine, and he and Bill, the first mate, began getting the rods and gear ready for tuna. There were 11 lines in the water, most trailing directly behind the boat as we trolled at about 6 knots, while the two outboard lines on either side were spread wide by the use of outriggers. The trick was to locate baitfish, either by spotting them visually or by seeing bird activity that would signal where the baitfish were, or by getting a visual picture of them on the fish finding radar. Once we found the baitfish, we would troll in that area, hoping to attract the tuna to come up and hit the various lures and bait that we trolled on the surface.

A mere 30 minutes had passed when we spotted a white marlin trailing behind one of the baits. He would close in, then drift back, then close in again. We made several passes over that spot and raised him each time, but he just would not take the bait. We turned our focus back to the tuna, and within another half of an hour, two of the outboard lines snapped loose of the outriggers, and there were “fish on!” Kurt and Dan grabbed the two rods and began fighting the fish as the rest of us quickly brought in the other lines and cleared the deck area for the ensuing fight.

Both reels screamed as the tuna stripped line from them when the fish dove for deeper water. Pump and reel, pump and reel, then pump and reel as the reel would scream again when the fish made another run from the boat. Both fishermen brought their fish to the boat after a long battle, and it was easy to see why the struggle was so intense.

The one yellowfin was 40 pounds, and the other was just over 50 pounds – both were great fighters. Then, as quickly as the action had begun, a two-hour lull ensued until the next, and final tuna, a 20 pounder, was brought to the boat. With plenty of fresh tuna to share among the four fishermen, Captain Steve suggested we head to an area where we could catch some tilefish to round out our catch for the day.

Tilefish feed near the bottom at a depth of about 300 feet, munching on crabs, shrimp, and the occasional smaller fish. Three rods were rigged up for us to use, one with a manual reel and two with electric reels! With 2 pounds of lead weight to get to the bottom, reeling in a fish would wear out anyone’s arms pretty quickly – thus the electric reels. Over the next hour, we drifted with the current, covering 1.6 miles and landing 26 of these 23 – 28 inch fish!

The next morning, as I was slicing and vacuum packing the fish, I nibbled on some fresh sushi and placed a cast-iron skillet on the stove, melted some butter, then pan-fried a tilefish filet in the butter – it was delicious! Who would have guessed it? But, like Forrest Gump’s mama said, “You never know what you’re gonna get!”