Oh boy! Here's an opportunity to tell some real "whoppers" for fish tales. I have a couple of fun ones, both true. Probably two of my greatest fishing stories. I have spent many, many, years as a fisherman, and even thought of going Pro for a while when I was younger. So, some pretty solid fishing background and experiences. Ironically, both of these stories happened within a week of each other too!...(Pretty unusual, as fishing stories go). Both stories took place in southern Florida on the Gulf side (where I did a fair amount of my serious fishing). The location for both of these stories was Marco Island, which was then considerably less populated than it is now (much of the island was just old fishing villages, with a modern kind of ritzy section being built). Now it's a thriving metropolis.
The first story begins with a fishing contest me and my buddy, Todd, used to enter on an annual basis. We both consistently placed in this contest, and even won a few championships between us. We were both very competitive (with each other). This particular contest was sponsored by a big fishing tackle and commercial fishing supply place, and they generally had some pretty nice prizes (i.e. expensive tackle, cash prizes and high-end gear). They generally had multiple categories you could enter, and I generally always entered the saltwater contest in three fish categories, Snook, Redfish, and Grouper. I was a pretty good Snook fisherman at the time, so I could usually plan on catching at least one good sized Snook. The rules were (3) fish, and you could have any combination of fish in the (3) categories. Each category was judged by size and weight in that category (or class), and then you also entered a total combined weight across all (3) classes...but only (3) fish max. The contest ran for 7 days and you could bring an entry on any of the days, BUT once you entered a fish you couldn't 'un-enter' it and substitute a bigger/different fish. Again, (3) fish total.
Days 1 -3: Normally, I always caught fish, but then the question became should I enter that fish or try for a bigger one? On the first three days I got totally skunked! Aside from junk fish, or species outside the classes, I had 'zippo' at the end of day #3 (this was really rare for me).
Day 4: Changed some tactics (and tackle) and caught several fish before Noon. Most were small Snook which I had to cut loose. (18" min. legal size). Then I boated a Redfish and a Snook which were both keepers, but nothing special. I knew, at very best, neither of these fish would probably place (based on past experience...the competition was pretty intense, as you were up against local guides and everyone else). After a few minutes of deliberation I decided to toss both in the fish locker and keep them, to fillet out the Redfish and eat it, and I'd take a chance on entering the Snook.
Day 5: Nothin! Wow! A couple small ones, no keepers and a complete zippo for the day! Checked in with my buddy (and a couple others I knew); everyone was struggling. At least I didn't feel so bad.
Day 6: Nothing in the morning. Then I caught a good sized Grouper when I decided to hit a man made reef offshore for a while to break up the pace. Grouper, being quite a bit bigger, was still good sized. 12 lbs as I recall. He was going in the locker for sure and would be entered. This was really unusual for me, because normally I'd have all (3) fish as Snook and they'd be turned in already (and this had been my goal up to this point). Well, I wasn't having any results at all with Snook (or Redfish, which I didn't fish a lot anyway), so thought I should focus on Grouper. That was it for day #6. Turned in the Grouper and found out someone had turned in one bigger than my fish already (dammit!).
Day 7: Final day. Time to put up, or shut up; the heat was on. My buddy Todd had entered the freshwater category, so the whole time I was out on the boat, he was onshore fishing for Bass (and two other fish, which I forget). Fished up until about 2pm. I was fried to a crisp, as I'd been out all (7) days. I was really about ready to call it a day. 5pm was the deadline. I was done, and wasn't going to even place. Decided to try this one last spot I knew of in the Marco River Channel. There was a hole in this channel and if there were fish (at all) they were generally big, and often Grouper. All of a sudden I snagged both lines big-time. I was hung up bad. This tackle was kind of expensive, so I didn't want to lose it. I'd finish my day trying to get un-snagged. That was UNTIL...my "snag" started to move! No way could this be a fish. I figured maybe I'd hooked a manatee or something, but it was pretty deep for a manatee (about 30'). It was definitely moving. Holy crap! Long story short...it was indeed a fish.
Got the fish up to the boat, and it was a Goliath Grouper, and it was WAY too big to get in the boat myself! Now what?? Running out of time. I didn't know exactly how big this fish really was, but he was a monster! I managed to get a rope through his mouth and out his gills on one side and tied him off to the stern cleat. Time was running out. I would have to go very slow if I was going to pull this off, but I managed to get him to the Marco River Marina which was the closest place I had any hope of getting this fish out of the water.
Once out of the water and hanging from the scale, he weighed in a 397 lbs!! No lie either! Had to call the contest place and tell them I had this fish. By this time the Miami Herald had showed up along with a pretty big crowd. Some quick checks and I was 75 lbs short of a Florida State Record fish (bummer), but he was still a bomber! Unless someone had caught another one like him, the contest would be in the bag.
The contest folks sent someone to the marina to verify the catch. Won the contest, hand's down, got my picture in the Miami Herald and even sold the fish to a local restaurant who had shown up. Didn't take the State Record, but still, biggest fish I ever caught in Florida...by far! Won a bunch of cool stuff in the contest (which was nice), and best of all...blew my buddy, Todd, out of the water!!
True story too, folks!
My 2nd story isn't about a big fish, nor an even particularly notable fish; it's just the story of catching it (sort of). ...
(to be continued in Part II (next))
(Note - It will be interesting to see if my next post "merges" with this one as a single post, or if it shows up separately).
The first story begins with a fishing contest me and my buddy, Todd, used to enter on an annual basis. We both consistently placed in this contest, and even won a few championships between us. We were both very competitive (with each other). This particular contest was sponsored by a big fishing tackle and commercial fishing supply place, and they generally had some pretty nice prizes (i.e. expensive tackle, cash prizes and high-end gear). They generally had multiple categories you could enter, and I generally always entered the saltwater contest in three fish categories, Snook, Redfish, and Grouper. I was a pretty good Snook fisherman at the time, so I could usually plan on catching at least one good sized Snook. The rules were (3) fish, and you could have any combination of fish in the (3) categories. Each category was judged by size and weight in that category (or class), and then you also entered a total combined weight across all (3) classes...but only (3) fish max. The contest ran for 7 days and you could bring an entry on any of the days, BUT once you entered a fish you couldn't 'un-enter' it and substitute a bigger/different fish. Again, (3) fish total.
Days 1 -3: Normally, I always caught fish, but then the question became should I enter that fish or try for a bigger one? On the first three days I got totally skunked! Aside from junk fish, or species outside the classes, I had 'zippo' at the end of day #3 (this was really rare for me).
Day 4: Changed some tactics (and tackle) and caught several fish before Noon. Most were small Snook which I had to cut loose. (18" min. legal size). Then I boated a Redfish and a Snook which were both keepers, but nothing special. I knew, at very best, neither of these fish would probably place (based on past experience...the competition was pretty intense, as you were up against local guides and everyone else). After a few minutes of deliberation I decided to toss both in the fish locker and keep them, to fillet out the Redfish and eat it, and I'd take a chance on entering the Snook.
Day 5: Nothin! Wow! A couple small ones, no keepers and a complete zippo for the day! Checked in with my buddy (and a couple others I knew); everyone was struggling. At least I didn't feel so bad.
Day 6: Nothing in the morning. Then I caught a good sized Grouper when I decided to hit a man made reef offshore for a while to break up the pace. Grouper, being quite a bit bigger, was still good sized. 12 lbs as I recall. He was going in the locker for sure and would be entered. This was really unusual for me, because normally I'd have all (3) fish as Snook and they'd be turned in already (and this had been my goal up to this point). Well, I wasn't having any results at all with Snook (or Redfish, which I didn't fish a lot anyway), so thought I should focus on Grouper. That was it for day #6. Turned in the Grouper and found out someone had turned in one bigger than my fish already (dammit!).
Day 7: Final day. Time to put up, or shut up; the heat was on. My buddy Todd had entered the freshwater category, so the whole time I was out on the boat, he was onshore fishing for Bass (and two other fish, which I forget). Fished up until about 2pm. I was fried to a crisp, as I'd been out all (7) days. I was really about ready to call it a day. 5pm was the deadline. I was done, and wasn't going to even place. Decided to try this one last spot I knew of in the Marco River Channel. There was a hole in this channel and if there were fish (at all) they were generally big, and often Grouper. All of a sudden I snagged both lines big-time. I was hung up bad. This tackle was kind of expensive, so I didn't want to lose it. I'd finish my day trying to get un-snagged. That was UNTIL...my "snag" started to move! No way could this be a fish. I figured maybe I'd hooked a manatee or something, but it was pretty deep for a manatee (about 30'). It was definitely moving. Holy crap! Long story short...it was indeed a fish.
Got the fish up to the boat, and it was a Goliath Grouper, and it was WAY too big to get in the boat myself! Now what?? Running out of time. I didn't know exactly how big this fish really was, but he was a monster! I managed to get a rope through his mouth and out his gills on one side and tied him off to the stern cleat. Time was running out. I would have to go very slow if I was going to pull this off, but I managed to get him to the Marco River Marina which was the closest place I had any hope of getting this fish out of the water.
Once out of the water and hanging from the scale, he weighed in a 397 lbs!! No lie either! Had to call the contest place and tell them I had this fish. By this time the Miami Herald had showed up along with a pretty big crowd. Some quick checks and I was 75 lbs short of a Florida State Record fish (bummer), but he was still a bomber! Unless someone had caught another one like him, the contest would be in the bag.
The contest folks sent someone to the marina to verify the catch. Won the contest, hand's down, got my picture in the Miami Herald and even sold the fish to a local restaurant who had shown up. Didn't take the State Record, but still, biggest fish I ever caught in Florida...by far! Won a bunch of cool stuff in the contest (which was nice), and best of all...blew my buddy, Todd, out of the water!!
True story too, folks!
My 2nd story isn't about a big fish, nor an even particularly notable fish; it's just the story of catching it (sort of). ...
(to be continued in Part II (next))
(Note - It will be interesting to see if my next post "merges" with this one as a single post, or if it shows up separately).
