reelhard report

ReelHard

grouper slayer
Scott and i decided last weekend was looking pretty good for fishing.so we loaded up sat. morning and headed down. we got to safe marina at about 3oclock. We launched the boat and were on our way. we stopped just outside the harbour and made bait and headed of to the deeper reefs for an action packed nite of fishing. we reached our destination at around 6 oclock. Scott put down a rock bass and i decided on a 10oz. grouper jig with a small jack attached with the spine fillet out. at 7 oclock my rod started a slow bend and i thought probably snagged the bottom. but we were anchored up and the rod kept bending. i said it has to be a fish. so i cranked the handle a dozen times and knew i had to be off the bottom. but it still did not feel like a fish. just about that time it knew it was hooked. I tried backing off my drag but from the year of grouper fishing the drag washers had froze solid. i only had 100lb. test main line with 100lb. mono leader. on a penn 4/0. some how everything held together and 15 min. later i had a 175lb. black at the boat.

We then caught our breath and i decided to use my 6/0 with an operational drag. i used the same jig with a grunt . We thought it would be a good idea to try and catch some zzz at about 10 oclock my reel started screaming i came out of the cabin in such a rush i wasnt even out of my sleeping bag fully as i started fighting this fish i realized im only wearing boxers. i asked scott to man the pole while i put on jeans and shoes. then he went to put on his shoes when in was done. after about 30 min. it sounded like a submarine surfaced. We were dumbfounded now. scott put a gaff in his lower jaw and i put a hand gaff in as well. we started pulling and my gaff broke. so i ran a heavy dock line through his gills and out his mouth. and we then heaved it in the boat. it took up one whole side of the deck. we are guessing it to be about 300lbs.

at about midnite it got a little windy and the waves picked up. we thought about heading in but didnt. at about 3am it got a little worse so we decided to try a reef closer to rocky point so a least we would be going in the rite direction. when we arrived we fished for about 30min. and caught about 8 fish. we then new it was time to head back as the seas were building. about 5 miles from safe marina it seemed to have laid down. but we did not want to push our luck. so all in all it was another good fishing adventure. man i love that place.
 

rockyptjoe

Well Known Member
Used to have photo I took outside of Blackie's when he was selling fish and shrimp ......a grouper filled up the bed of a pickup truck....I gave it to him a couple of years ago....
 

Stuart

Aye carumba!!!
Staff member
Good job, guys. Surprised we didn't pass you on our way back in. I heard about the blacks Sunday morning while we were buying shrimp, but didn't connect it to you two at that time.

Scary when the wind starts coming up out there at night, isn't it? Same thing happened to me the one time I spent the night out there. It was a long, slow, wet ride back in the next day.
 

Stuart

Aye carumba!!!
Staff member
Do fish get tougher the bigger they are??
Depends on the fish. The blacks are surprisingly good eating, even at that size. The trick is to cook it in very small pieces, not big fillets. There is so much meat on a fish that size it's like a side of beef!
 

moore_rb

Stay Thirsty My Friends
oops, picture didn,t go, here it is
THAT is a toad... Huge-a-normous.

I know that selling meat from a large catch is (obviously) illegal, but I've also heard that some of the local restaraunt owners will cook up your catch for you in exchange for some of the take... is this true? do you guys have a list of restaraunts that readily "partake" in this barter system?
 

ReelHard

grouper slayer
we do. but i dont know if i should mention the name. dont want to ruin a good thing. but it does work out well. we eat like kings. the barter system is a great thing thoe. im sure if you ask around it would not be to hard to find a restaraunt that would be willing to work with you.
 

don

Well Known Member
HOLY CAMOLEY! Geez! What an incredible fish. Excellent story, loved reading it, thanks!
 
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