!!! I had to cut the line and just sit there for a minute wondering what else I could have done. I never expected a fish that big to be in that depth, so just to be safe out came the 6.0 with a 100 lb. leader. I put on another LY and sent it down mumbling...."I got sum'in for your #*% now." It never came back, but we managed to put a few more nice gags in the cooler over the next 1 1/2 hour. It was amazing to catch that many grouper within sight of the beach on Dog Island. The seas started to lay down, so we decided to venture farther out to deeper water and a few other spots. We anchored up on a hole in 70 ft. and started catching snapper right away. We caught 4 nice keepers, then decided to move on to another spot. Got to the next spot, and all that would bite there was snapper. We noticed a nice bait pod running within casting distance of the boat, so I decided to throw a jig into them and try to hook some live bait. They hit the jig right away, so my buddy decided to join in on the light tackle fun and take a break from bottom fishing for a few minutes. We put 8 blue runners in the livewell........and one on a freeline out the back of the boat. The bottom action started to slow a bit, so we decided to head back closer in. My buddy went to retrieve the freeline when all of a sudden the water literally exploded on the surface!!!!!! The drag went screaming and he held on for dear life hoping the fish would stop.....it did......right after it ran directly under the boat tangling the line under one of the trolling motors. I dropped the ladder in the back and proceded to go down into the water and free the line from the troller. There was no doubt that this was a HUGE king.......about this time it leaped out of the water in front of the boat 3 times making enormous splashes!!!! It was awesome to watch a fish that big do that. We finally got it to come near enough to the side of the boat to get a gaff in the head. I hauled the 45" monster over the side and it proceded to cover me and the boat with blood....flopping the entire time. Exhausted from the last 10 minutes of utter chaos, I threw it in the cooler and decided that was enough for one day. We laughed about the experience for a minute, then headed on in. About 3 miles south of Dog Island, I noticed a HUGE shark skimming the top of the surface with its tail and dorsal completely out of the water. I slowed the boat down and turned into its direction......we were able to get right along side of it before it dropped about 3 ft. under the surface. I'm not sure what kind of shark it was, but it had to be about 10 ft. long!! The biggest one I've ever seen out there and he didn't seem to mind that we came up on him. We decided that it would be a good idea to keep moving 
........got back to the marina at 7:30 pm. What a fun day on the water. What was left of the rock bass......
Early morning grouper and red snapper....
The king.....
The bait of the day seemed to be the cut LY's. The bigger fish hit the tail end better than the head, but the action was consistent on both. The grunts and triggerfish liked squid and we caught a few short red grouper on the squid. We took one box of spanish sardines and came back with half a box....not much action on them. Water temp was 73-76 depending on our depth. Yet again, the trolling lure of the day was the red/white stretch 25/30. Tried trolling a Captain's Action and Clark's silver spoon, with no takers.
My keep of the day........
