[Garbo]

On my first trip to the keys, the shallow water fishing was slow, really slow, and not having the will to stay at it, a buddy and I went out to the edge of the reef near Aligator Light to look for something interesting. We Found It.

With a large spinning reel (Penn 8500SS)I hooked a Barracuda on a Tube Lure. As the fish was wearing down a very large Tiger shark ate the whole Cuda. The Tube Lure had two very large treble hooks rigged into it and the upper hook caught in the nose of the Shark. We followed that fish for hours and got it boatside, and had no way of controlling it but could have killed it many times over. We were fishing in a 18' Hewes Flats Boat and the fishappeared to beas long as the boat with the upper lobe of the tail included longer.We guessed it over 700lbs. and busted it off to release it. I have often wondered how much that fish really weighed and it would be my largest fish ever caught.

Other than thatfish it wouldbe a 170 lb Tarpon, also estimated.

What is your biggest fish deal?

 

[Ocean Man]

I have caught a few large Sharks but I didn't keep them and I have no way of estimating the weight on them so I will say 70lb Cobia a couple years ago. It was the first Cobe I ever caught.

 

[bonita dan]

Kept and eaten,70lb. Wahoo caught on the Set4Life in Sept. Self released 7ft. Mako,estimated 300-350(hard to tell with sharks) hooked with a Penn209 levelwind:doh Faught it for an hour straight,got it boatside and #80 wire was sheared by the teeth. Big heartbreak and near heart attack. Ran me around the boat 4 times with some spectacular jumps. Went from sittin in the chair to sittin on the cooler to layin on the floor:hotsun Heres the Hoo with Scott Brown minding the business end.

 

[reelfinatical]

The heavier fish I've caught have never made it to the boat. :banghead lol

 

[Garbo]

bonita dan (11/15/2007)

Dan, that is a nice Hoo, but a Great Picture.

 

[bigfishrookie]

312# Blue Marlin. 10'6". June 20, 1987. Aboard Sweet Sally 50 miles south of Pensacola Pass. First and only time I've everbeen marlin fishin'. Fish would have won 250K prize in tournament if we had entered. C' est la vie. BTW- back in those days it was mostly sport kill, as tag and release was a new philosophy. I still kinda feel bad about killing it. I did have him mounted, though.

 

[Private Pilot]

Mines not too big: 42 in red about 20-30 lbs.

 

[BJW]

The biggest one I ever actually put in the boat was an amberjack that was just a few ounces over 50 pounds. (That was a long time ago, about 1968.) Like some of the others, I have had some big sharks up to the pier or boat and cut them off rather than risk taking them out of the water.

 

[bonita dan]

Thanks Curtis. He was fresh out the water and lit up like a christmas tree. Not bad for a 545gs,#20 line,4lbs of drag and a itty bitty #6 treble huh. Scott hit him perfectly in the eyeball with the gaff:toast

 

[SHUT UP AND FISH]

a 30 pound black fin tuna

 

[B.KITZEL]

ehhh...... striped marlin about 175#

dont even get me started with the sharks.......

 

[true-king]

blue marlin

estimated 375-400 lbs

 

[FelixH]

Saltwater, hook and line: 8ft+/- shark... don't know the weight. released boatside.

Freshwater: 35 lb catfish

Spearing: 24 lb red snapper

 

[fishnfrank]

Big bull red. Don't know the weight, had to release him He was as long as from my waist to the ground.

 

[Salt Life]

473 pound hammerhead . 80lb. ande line w/ 150 lb steele leader.

Hooked @ 6:30 pm 12-31-1980

Landed / tail roped 2:20 am 01-01-1981

While tail roped fish measured over 21 ft long and pulled my 17 ft Aquasport w 1979 Evinrude 115 underwater totaly swamping the entire boat three times. Towed the fish to Ocean Reef Yacht clubwhere she still resides at the gas dock. Last I heard.

Bait: livechicken dolphin

Rig : Penn 6.0 and some kind of matching rod , cant remember

Location : # 8 whistle bouy in 120 ft off of Key Largo.

After leaving the shark at Ocean Reef at 4:00 am, left there and headed home by boat. Another two and a half hours Navagating around coral heads in Key largo, back country mangroves of elliot key, sand bars and flats and then accross Biscane BaytoSnapper Creek Marina. Remember this was 1980 .............. NO GPS. GOD I was good once.... Isnt there a country song there?

Remember that trip for the rest of my life like it was yesterday.

Thank ya all for letting me carry on with my flash back.

Oh Hey, had a really good freind with me .... His name .. John Plant.

 

[nb&twil]

a few weeks ago, i caught a monsterwhite troutoff bob sykes...

actually, multiple sharks over 100 lbs.other than that,a tarpon fromnavarre pierestimated around 125 (we were young, maybe not that big. but it was surely my favorite fight) pulled him to the pier on his side and had a couple buddies all agree the fish was whooped, then popped him off (props to mamoi monofilament, it felt like it took 30 lbs of pressure to break 15lb test)

 

[Stressless]

125 YFT. Story here: http://pensacolafishingforum.com/fishingforum/Topic19435-27-1.aspx

 

[getbent]

2# ramora from the pier

 

[Brant Peacher]

If you dont count sharks, which Ive caught lots of sharks over 150lbs, I would say a 55lb King! Ive also caught a grass carp that pushed 60lbs. Oh and lots of tarpon in the 70 to 100lb range!

 

[John B.]

multiple sharks over #150... 112lb YFT, a few tarpon over #100