It was an early August morning when I watched the shoreline fade away in the darkness. The sun had just begun to rise. It barely peeked over the ocean. It illuminated the water with the most beautiful colors. The warm ocean mist sprayed my face. As we traveled further and further out in the blue ocean, the aquatic life was tremendously abundant. After two hours of traveling, the Lady Lyen began to throttle down.

It was the most amazing feeling, as if entering another world. No other people were in sight except those of us on the boat. In every direction I saw nothing but the most crystal clear water I had ever dreamed of. While I was looking around, I caught a glimpse of an extraordinary sight: a giant Monterey leapt into the air. It was probably the size of an average living room. While I was admiring the wildlife, my dad and uncle set out fishing lines. For we were in search of one of the ocean's toughest fish: the mighty tuna. Tuna, mainly known as a commercial fish, is in my opinion the world's greatest sport fish, with the yellow fin the smallest and the blue fin the largest.

After the last line was set out, we sat and waited for the first strike. After trolling for almost an hour, bang! A rod bent over and the fish began to take off with our bait like a scared deer. I grabbed the rod and tightened the drag. I then moved into the dreaded fighting chair and prepared myself. This was going to be a long fight.

My father spotted the fish on the surface about one hundred yards out. He recognized it as a big-eye tuna and it was huge, at least two hundred pounds. That would be the biggest fish of my life. After seeing the tuna on the surface, he disappeared and started to dive. Deeper and deeper, the tuna was diving so fast the reel was smoking! Soon the tuna reached the bottom. What amazed me was that the bottom was seven hundred feet down. It was going to take a while to reel him in, but I was determined. After an hour, the tuna was about twenty feet off the back of the boat. It was not close to being over yet. There was one more obstacle we had to overcome: a shark! This eleven-foot hammerhead was trailing the tuna. My uncle was at the helm. He cranked the boat around to lose the shark. I quickly reeled fast to get the tuna next to the boat. My father grabbed the line and gaffed the tuna. I quickly set the rod down and helped my father lift up the big fish. Once he was in the boat, we all took a deep breath. This was my biggest and first tuna, and an experience I will never forget. l