Giant. Bluefin. Tuna.

Whoa.

Sounds mighty,
doesn’t it?

Mighty. Mini. Swivels.

Not so much.

But the company that
makes Mighty Mini Swivels,
AFL/HI-SEAS, decided
to fight a giant bluefin
tuna on one of their
crane swivels.

Mighty Mini Crane
Swivels, steel swivels
with a barrel body and swiveling wire rings on
both ends, were
developed to be superior
to any crane swivels
before, the company says.

The company launched
a trip on a charter boat
to fish from Canada’s
Prince Edward Island, one of the best ports to reach the largest bluefins.

The fishing was catch and release by law.

Kicking up the challenge, Canada had passed a law requiring the tuna to be fought no more than an hour before release.

Giants can weigh more than 1,000 pounds, so the hour fight meant that the trip had to fish a stronger drag on the reel and a heavier leader than otherwise.

A 1/0 swivel was
crimped between a
280-pound fluorocarbon
leader and 100 feet of
200-pound monofilament
top-shot, fished on a
Penn International
80 reel.

The biggest tackle
was used.

Except, look at the size
of the swivel, at left.

A giant was hooked
on a fresh herring,
blistering off one-half
of the reel’s line on
the first run.

After a half-hour, the fish began to give more line back than take it.

The 10-foot-long tuna, estimated to weigh more than 1,000 pounds,
was landed and released.

Click here to read a complete story about
the catch, by outdoor
writer Gary Caputi.

Now that you know
about the swivels,
why would you use
anything else?
he asks.

That's whether you
angle for anything
from panfish to billfish.

For more info about both the crane swivels and the Mighty Mini snap swivels that the company also makes, visit the Mighty Mini Swivels Web page.

AFW/HI-SEAS makes the industry's largest selection of wire line and leader products, and a complete range of fishing lines, the company says.