Welcome to the Sea fishing blog

I used to work second shift hours, since my “work day” started at 3:30 in the afternoon I was able to slip out to the state lake near home to fish several times each week. Instead of re-writing the story, I will just post the exact email that I went to a few select friends on May 6, 2001……….Now for today’s report….. I ran myself out of time and didn’t even have enough time to stop and get ice on the way back home from the lake or even mess with them at home, so at the boat ramp I counted 27 crappie I returned to the water. One third of these were the finest crappie I had ever caught at the State lake. A couple of them were an even pound, with several around 3/4 of a pound!

The most memorable part of the day (and also the reason I was running so late) was when I hooked and fought the largest fish of my lifetime for a solid 35 minutes. (Real time, I noted the time on my watch when I realized how big he was!) On my favorite 11′ crappie pole with fresh 4 pound line and two 1/16 oz jigs tied 2 foot apart. He pulled me all over the open end of the lake, crossing the lake twice and running back and forth across the dam a few times. At one point near the beginning of the battle I could see only 4 wraps of line around the 140 yard spool, I had to kick the trolling motor in high gear chasing him to try and gain some line. For much of the time while I was in high gear he was swimming right below the boat at the same speed I was going, I’m sure he was looking for some cover to brush me off with. I tried to herd him towards the middle of the lake but really he just went where and when he pleased. I never felt a head shake, or a tail kick. Just a constant pull as if I was tied to the back bumper of a Jeep. I had everything cleared from the deck of the boat and was using every square inch as he circled the boat and often dove directly under and shot out the other side. I had the gas motor up and all the way out of the water to keep from cutting the line, and I had to keep switching hands holding the rod to keep them from falling asleep during this cruel workout. I have to tell you the same landing net that held 71 crappie at once last Saturday now looked like a useless minnow bucket dip net, I’m sure the fish wouldn’t have fit in it anyway.

The end of the battle came when he managed to snag the one free hook into a solid stump on the bottom, I felt the hook snag then I felt the line pop like thread between the two hooks leaving me tethered to the stump. I never got to see him, nor was I able to even pull him up from the bottom of the lake. I’m sure it was a big catfish, how big I’ll never know but I can tell you it’s the biggest fish this boy has ever been hooked to!

This will be something to tell my Grandkids someday, a day I’ll never forget. (Right now I’m grinning so big if I was wearing lipstick I’d have it on both ears!)

Once upon a time, in 1979, in a city called Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, a young 18 year old man was fishing on “Anglin’s Pier” at the end of Commercial Blvd, in a community named “Lauderdale By The Sea”.The young man had been there MANY, MANY times since he was a small boy of 8 or 9 years old. He had caught many different species of fish over the years, but only 5 or 6 SMALL sharks, mainly Spinners or Blacktips, but never anything to REALLY “brag about”…………Until, one day, just after Sundown, his 9/0 went off !

The 8 or 10 lb. Bonito he had been swimming live earlier, probably now long since deceased and lying on the bottom, had been “PICKED UP!” Upon hearing the SCREAM of the clicker, he raced to the rod, turned off the clicker, and silently counted to 30, as line continued to flow off the reel! He threw the reel into gear and waited for the line to come TIGHT and set the hook three or four times with as much force as the 10 ft. heavy “Shark Rod” and 80 lb-test “Ande” line could deliver! He began to gain line quickly and thought to himself, “Another Spinner”………….SUDDENLY, ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE ! ! !

The rod bent and flexed VIOLENTLY and line began STREAMING off the 9/0 against an ALMOST “HAMMERED” DRAG, which he QUICKLY LOOSENED, both to save the drag washers and prevent himself from being “LEVERED” over the pier railing ! ! ! It seemed like the fish COULD NOT BE STOPPED OR TURNED ! ! !

The bait had been placed out about “Half-Spool”, approximately 200 yards, so there was only about that much line left to “PLAY” the fish… He thought he would be “SPOOLED” for sure and decided that he would “HAMMER” the drag, if it looked like the reel would be stripped, brace himself against the rail and wait for something to “GIVE” ! ! !

FINALLY, the fish turned or was turned! No one will ever know which it was and, over the course of the next 2 hours or more, that was repeated at least twice. Doubt came and went in the young man’s thoughts repeatedly, as fatigue began to set in…!

“A GIANT RAY?”, he thought, but “NO!” Someone with a Q-Beam Spotlight said they had seen a dorsal fin! “What could it be?,” he thought. The idea that he had “Foul-Hooked” or “Snagged” the fish came to him. That would make the fight VERY HARD and LONG, indeed!

It seemed like the fight went on all night to the young man, but FINALLY, somebody yelled, “There, He is!” and ropes and gaffs appeared, as if by “MAGIC!” One of the others lowered the gaff on a stout rope to snag the “MONSTER.” After several misses, the huge hook was sunk home and twelve, or more, onlookers began hauling the fish up over the pier railing, hand over hand!

The young man hadn’t even seen what he had caught yet and had slumped down onto the pier, EXHAUSTED! By the grunts and cursing, he could tell that whatever it was, must be pretty heavy! As the fish reached the top of the railing, a Police Officer, who had become concerned by the noise and commotion, had come over to investigate what was going on. He shot the fish twice in the head at point blank range with a .357 Magnum!

After VIOLENTLY THRASHING for a few seconds, the fish went limp and was hauled over the rail onto the pier deck! For the first time all could see what it was and it shocked the young man! Lying on the pier, at the young man’s feet, was a HUGE SHARK!

“HAMMERHEAD!” exploded in his brain as he took in the size of his catch! SUDDENLY, the SHARK REVIVED and all scattered for their lives! A few minutes later, the fish was dead. “How Big?” 9 foot 10 inches! “Weight?” Unknown, as the Pier Scales only went to 250 lb. and it was clear the shark weighed more than that!

What to “do” with it now?

The young man carved out the jaws and sold them to a man who offered him $25.00. One of his friends filleted and steaked out the shark, dividing it up among everyone, as the young man had asked him to do. Then, several of them, including the young man, dumped the carcass back into the water with a HUGE SPLASH ! They watched it slowly sink below the surface and come to rest on the bottom in the reflected light of the spotlight!

The young man felt TRIUMPHANT & PROUD….. and then a “SADNESS” came over him, which he has never forgotten to this very day!

I was that “Young Man!” Since that day, I never killed another Shark I caught and began to encourage my friends to do the same. I never ate the Shark Meat and simply threw it away…WHAT A WASTE ! ! !

Eventually, that “LESSON” crept into all of my fishing. As a result, I developed this philosophy, “Unless it is going on the plate or out for bait, it will be released to fight again!”