Greg and Alex Stewart of British Columbia, Canada, have traveled to fish with Capt. Josh Temple in nearly every location the young captain has found himself in over the years.  The two angers have bested some incredible fish with Temple including massive king salmon and halibut in northern British Columbia, as well as giant yellowfin tuna up to 300 pounds and hefty blue and black marlin, roosterfish, sailfish and dorado in the fertile waters off Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. 

In November 2007, right before the 53rd annual Puerto Vallarta Marlin tournament (which Temple later went on to win for the third year in a row) the two friends fished aboard the Conqusitador and Fortuna with captains Temple and Vasquez of Prime Time Adventures (www.primetimeadv.com). 

Greg quickly bested a giant yellowfin that tipped the scales at 298 pounds and later in the same day released a black marlin pushing 600 pounds.  Alex enjoyed slower fortune managing to release a nice blue pushing 300 pounds but couldn't seem to connect with anything larger than sailfish and dorado until the morning of the last day of their trip.  Fishing with Temple on the Conquistador (a 40 Cabo Express) Alex was up on the rotation when the live skipjack trolled deep on the downrigger literally exploded as a massive fish engulfed the bait.  Waiting patiently for the sign from Temple, Alex finally locked up the reel and felt the 11/0 circle hook find it's mark.  The fight lasted over an hour and while the big fish jumped once during the fight it wasn't until the team aboard the Conquistador brought the giant black alongside the boat for the release that they truly appreciated it's size. 

"We had a 913-pound blue die on us last year," Temple said, "and this fish was clearly bigger."  Still, the team decided they couldn't bring themselves to kill such a magnificent fish and despite it's potential to make the magical "grander" class they opted to release the fish. 

"If it was one day later I would have had to kill it" Temple said, "but luckily for that fish she chose the day before the tournament to show herself and I think we are all grateful for that." 

"In all my years of fishing I never thought fish like that existed," Alex Stewart said. "You see them in magazines but to be there first-hand when a true behemoth rises from the deep - it's a life changing moment for any angler."

"Well, I guess it's another year of having to listen to Alex's stories," Greg Stewart said. "How he manages to one-up me every year is a mystery to me. My 300-pound-class yellowfin and 600-pound black is nothing to shake a stick at but you just can't compete with a fish like Alex's - that marlin was a BEAST!"