BigMac Posted June 6, 2006 Report Share Posted June 6, 2006 While we were fishing this evening, about half a mile to the south of us something jumped out of the water and created a huge splash. We all saw it at the same time and all said "what the *&%$ was that" . Over the course of the next 6 or 7 minutes it jumped out a further 5 times and we saw it a well as you can from that distance. The second jump was belly on to us and it was 5-6 feet long and showed no horizontal tail to say it was a dolphin or porpoise. The third jump was just a big splash. The forth jump was more side on and revealed, we think, a vertical tail(indicating a fish) but a long slender body (could have been thick set but it was hard to tell from where we were), silver flanked and a white belly. The tail was not long enough to be a jumping thresher. We just caught a splash of the fifth jump and a fleeting glimpse of the sixth that in my excitement I let out the word "Tarpon" before realising where I was. I know what I think it was (or they were, maybe), what do you think? Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swainiac Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 Al....................alcahol induced?? Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBettle Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 Was it possibly Bass chasing fry? You have actually described a sail fish or white marlin, but I kind of doubt it just west of the Isle of Wight. Not their usual grounds...... ....they prefer Swanage Bay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnasher Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 wasnt there a report of a yellow fin tuna caught off Barton..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMac Posted June 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 Tom, The first sight of it "tuna" went through my mind, Second decent view "wahoo" Last decent view I said "tarpon" I still had that jump in my mind when I realised that it was only two weeks ago that I saw virtually the same thing, but that was 6000 miles from here in Thailand!!!! The bass theory doesn't work, this fish was big! 5 or 6 foot long! Rob Thompson first thoughts were salmon or seatrout as he has seen them in the area free jumping before. We can discount these as the fish we saw was too large to be either. He reckons that it was a small thresher that didn't give us a good enough view of it to see its tail and positively identify it. Me...... I'm torn between a thresher as Rob says but my gut instinct is Tuna.... I've seen them busting out of the water in a few places around the world and that fish last night, looked just like one Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plaicemat Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 Cool! Now where did I put Grandpa's old tuna gear? Terry B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newboy Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 We saw 1 dolphin (could have been a porposie) last week on Tomcat2 on the ledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afishionado Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 I saw a human arm and hand come up out of the water. It moved violently from side to side. I was puzzled at first, but then I realized it was just a wave. Mad Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBettle Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 Tom, The first sight of it "tuna" went through my mind, Second decent view "wahoo" Last decent view I said "tarpon" I still had that jump in my mind when I realised that it was only two weeks ago that I saw virtually the same thing, but that was 6000 miles from here in Thailand!!!! The bass theory doesn't work, this fish was big! 5 or 6 foot long! Rob Thompson first thoughts were salmon or seatrout as he has seen them in the area free jumping before. We can discount these as the fish we saw was too large to be either. He reckons that it was a small thresher that didn't give us a good enough view of it to see its tail and positively identify it. Me...... I'm torn between a thresher as Rob says but my gut instinct is Tuna.... I've seen them busting out of the water in a few places around the world and that fish last night, looked just like one Allan It would be great if we had a warm water visitor. I have seen Thresher's free jumping here and would have put money on that, but the description and colours were all wrong. Flashing silver sides? I have caught a lot of Tuna (and heard of Albacore and Bonito making it as far as the Nab and Big eye's to devon, but in very small numbers. I have seen schools of Tuna working bait fish, but they "boil" rather than free jump and then they are not bars of silver either and often have a much more "petrolly" colour to their flanks.... Tough one this Allan. Still reckon a small thresher, are you sure about the colour? Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMac Posted June 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 No, I'm not positive about the colour. It was the flank on the shadow side of the fish (not the flank facing the sun) and could really have been any colour I suppose. I'm leaning towards a thresher the more I think about it and rationalise it, but having not seen one in the flesh (yet) its difficult to be sure. There was one seen in the solent about 4 weeks ago. The commercial boys out of east devon have been catching quite a few tuna for a fair number of years though, so there is reason to keep our hopes up Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBettle Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 Nothing to do with your sighting, but I was down on a "Customer Cruise" this weekend in Devon and had the luck to spot a mother Minkie Whale and her calf just outside Brixham harbour. Awesome creatures. Initially I just saw a dark hump and small dorsal and thought "Porpoise". Raced over there and as lead boat the rest of the cruise followed not knowing what I was doing. Called them on the radio to shut off their engines and wait and over what felt like a couple of minutes, but was in fact half an hour the whale and her calf swam in between the boats. Mum was about 8 metres and the calf was about 6 metres. Not huge by whale standards, but a wonderful sight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMac Posted June 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 Boatings fantastic aint it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 yep - we saw what I believe was a pilot whale coming back across Sunday. About 60m away crossing in front of us. on around the 19/20s loads of life out there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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