Cicale is one of the only female tuna captains in our area. Her competitors are mostly men.

She said she is “just trying to keep up with them and show them I could do the same thing.”

When the rod bent that fateful day, Cicale said she knew it would be another moment to prove herself.

“When the rod bends, it bends. You don’t know the size of it until you get it in view,” she said. “It was when I was lifting it out of the water and my friend was like, ‘Holy crap!'”

Cicale has two things in mind for this year’s goal: Bigger and better.