Susan Gentry of Westminster had some good luck aboard the Royal Polaris January 10, 2014, when she hauled in a 301.8-pound yellowfin, becoming the eighth woman to take a supercow. This fish was weighed on the scales of the boat. Over her career, Susan caught seven cow tuna before her supercow. Susan told it this way: “It was Jan 10, just before noon, when I got bit. We had a good morning bite before that, but I don’t remember anything about what we caught. I used a sardine, an Owner 6/0 ringed Super Mutu hook, 130-pound Yo-Zuri pink fluorocarbon and 200-pound Izorline Spectra, with some 135-pound Izorline spectra behind that. That spectra has been on my Shimano 50 LRS reel for 15 years. The rod was a Calstar 6460 XH.
“He took off pretty quick, ran a long way, and then I put pressure on him, but he wasn’t stopping. Deckhand Dharyl Shelbourne came over to me and put more drag on it. We walked up to the bow, and he took off four times. The last time, Dharyl took the rod and ran to the stern with it. I ran after him and got the rod back, and he came up in the corner. They opened up the gate and brought him aboard with four gaffs. I wouldn’t have got him without the crew.
“During the fight, I wasn’t sure what it was. Dharyl said, ‘It’s a tuna—look at the bend in your rod!’
“The tail beat was long and slow. I knew it was a big fish, but I didn’t think it would be that big; it surprised the hell out of me. The fight lasted about an hour.“John is my husband of 40 years and lets me go long range fishing. I’ve been going for 15 years. My first trip was to Clipperton in January of 2000. My first big one was a 216-pounder that I got there.
“We have two grandchildren,” continued Susan. “I’m retired from retail sales. I go long range fishing once a year with Taka Tanaka’s group, and John and I go out for calicos and largemouth bass in our 18-foot Champion bass boat. I’ve fished ever since my dad started me fishing in the sixth grade, in Norwalk. He took me to the Seal Beach Pier.”
Susan’s husband John had a few remarks, noting that Taka Tanaka of Taka’s Tackle, near LA, maintains all of Susan’s gear.
“She put the reel on the rod herself,” said John, “made the connection between the spectra and fluorocarbon, made sure the Sato crimp was properly swaged, not cracked, and glued properly. She has been using the Miller Knot for years and knows what a good Miller Knot looks like.
“Once her fish was hooked, Sue’s ‘Never give up for anything,’ attitude endured through the hour and five-minute battle. She only handed the rod off three times: once to get around the anchor rope, once to deckhand/photographer Dharyl Shelbourne to shake out her arms, and once when the fish made a charge from the bow to the portside corner. Sue had the rod and reel in hand and made the last lift to bring the fish to gaff.”
Even though women are still struggling for equal opportunity and equal pay, long range fishing is one area they’re accorded a fair chance. Chances for anglers of either sex to land a supercow on any given trip must be more than 100 to one, however. It took more than 15 years for the first three woman-caught supercows to be joined by the most recent six, but the last three giant yellowfin caught by women came in little over a month. It makes you wonder what the future holds for woman long rangers. From these events, it looks better than good.
