Extreme anglers hook up and hang on for wild ride

We've all seen the videos on television - the crazy people who come up with wacky ways to get pulled behind a fast-moving vehicle.

Skateboards behind pickups, snow skis behind snowmobiles, wakeboards behind four-wheelers.

Wait until Matt Shepard's video comes out. His antics pretty much put the others to shame.

Shepard is a kayak fishing enthusiast. Recently, he and fellow kayak anglers Ric Burnley and Lee Williams went to Hatteras to see whether they could catch a tuna.

Big bluefin tuna have been swarming the Gulf Stream waters just off the coast, and anglers have been enjoying some of the best late-winter action in several years.

So the three packed up their kayaks, some big tackle, piled it up on the Teach's Lair-based charter boat Big Tahuna and headed to sea.

About 30 miles out, the crew ran into plenty of action. Bluefins were everywhere and were feeding.

So the three kayakers dumped their boats, grabbed rods rigged up with jigs and balao (ballyhoo) and started fishing.

Capt. Scott Warren kept his 50-foot custom-built Hatteras sportfisher - now serving as the mother boat - close by to keep an eye on his crazy trio.

The three managed about a dozen hook-ups, only to have fish break lines or become unhooked.

Each time, though, the anglers could feel one of Mother Nature's most powerful creatures.

Bluefin tuna basically are football-shaped bodies of muscle. Often topping 100 pounds and capable of incredible speed and quick bursts, they are a difficult fight even on huge tackle from the fighting chair of a large boat.

But with lighter tackle... in a kayak?

"It's an eerie feeling to be out that far in a kayak anyway," said Shepard, a 25-year-old electrician. "Even with the big boat shadowing you, it's kind of wild. And you can see these huge fish down below and a big hammerhead shark swims by.

"Then you hook into a tuna and it's unbelievable how strong they are."

Finally, Shepard buried the hook well enough that he could really experience the full fight.

Shepard's a strong guy. From his kayak he has fought big cobia, red drum, amberjack and striper.

But if you ever tied the same-sized bluefin tail-to-tail to one of them, the tuna would pull those species all over the ocean at will.

And that's about what this one did to Shepard.

"We hooked him in the warm water and he pulled us about 2 or 3 miles into the colder water," he said. "It wasn't as rough there, but that was the worst thing that could have happened."

In warmer water, the tuna would have been more easily exhausted. But in colder waters, the fish had greater stamina.

About 90 minutes after the hook-up, Shepard managed to get the giant to the surface, where Williams paddled over and gaffed it.

"We here hollering like crazy most of the time, but when we saw how big it was, we went crazy," Shepard said. "It was as big as me and almost as long as the kayak."

Back at Teach's Lair, the fish tipped the scale at 166 pounds.

"It was an exhausting experience," the angler said. "My lower back was shot.

"But it was an amazing experience."

Shepard isn't done with extreme fishing. He said he knows he can wrestle a 200-pounder to the kayak. And now's the time to do it, as bluefin continue to swarm off the Outer Banks.

"And we want a white or blue marlin," he said. "Definitely want to get a billfish this way.

"Everybody tells us we're just crazy."

Lee Tolliver, (757) 222-5844, lee.tolliver@pilotonline.com