St. Marks 6/2 also
Posted: June 4th, 2004, 12:29 am
Got to the Fort about 11:00am and put in. Headed to the Lighthouse canal to cast net some bait. Left there with a dozen and a half 8-12 in mullet and headed to deep water. Past the bird rack and headed east about a mile and set to drift in about 11' of water. Had a few runs on the mullet that I suspect could have been Cobia and then. RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRR! I grabbed the rod loaded with 30# ande and set the hook with all my might and then. RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! I started yellin for my partner to crank up the motor and give chase within seconds of setting the hook. My spool was meltin faster than an Ice cream cone on a hot summer day. After what seemed to me to be an eternity, he finaly had his pole reeled in and had the motor started. Off we went in pursuit. We started putting line back on the reel, but careful as to not give the fish any slack line. We followed at a distance for about 15 min, and then I decided to get a little bolder with the chase. I told my partner to run him down if he wouldn't come to us. We got pretty close and I told him to shut down the motor to see if I could play the fish on my own(20mins had already past). BIG mistake! That hammerknocker let out of there with another one of those RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR's and put the first spool burns of many to come on both of my thumbs.
Fella's, we been at this for over 20 mins and still haven't seen a sign of what we were playin with. I suggested to my partner that the fish more than likely had no idea he was even hooked because we could get close with the boat, but as soon as we got near I would feel a violent thrash and RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR, again. Poor fish was probably startin to wander how we kept followin so closely.
Another 10min of the same back and forth of the line on the spool and low and behold, the biggest shark I've seen out side of the movie theater of Jaws, surfaced about 125yds off of the bow. My partner is seated at the helm and does'nt have a view so he just keeps headin towards the direction of the line. We get within 50 yds and I nervously look back and tell him not to get any closer.
A long story short, we followed for more than an hour, and covered more than a mile of water before this grand fish started showing signs of fatigue. Every time I would crank down hard and finally get his head to turn, he would make another 100yd run. Eventually we started getting him near the boat more and more frequently, and I actually thought we were going to win the battle. By this time the whole coastline had turned black and there were fingers of lightning working back and forth across the skyline. The seas had kicked up and we were taking every third or forth wave over the bow. The bilge pump was doing its thing and we were trying to do ours. Finally, I got him nearly underneath the boat and gave a giant heave ho to try and surface the fish, and Snap
. Oh well, we had no camera, with us anyhow, and sure as heck did'nt have any way or reason to try and land the fish. I guesstamated the fish's lenght to be around 9' and his weight to be around 300#.
I guess he will be there to watch over all the scallopers this year. I just hope he does'nt hold a grudge .
Fish Masterson
Fella's, we been at this for over 20 mins and still haven't seen a sign of what we were playin with. I suggested to my partner that the fish more than likely had no idea he was even hooked because we could get close with the boat, but as soon as we got near I would feel a violent thrash and RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR, again. Poor fish was probably startin to wander how we kept followin so closely.
Another 10min of the same back and forth of the line on the spool and low and behold, the biggest shark I've seen out side of the movie theater of Jaws, surfaced about 125yds off of the bow. My partner is seated at the helm and does'nt have a view so he just keeps headin towards the direction of the line. We get within 50 yds and I nervously look back and tell him not to get any closer.
A long story short, we followed for more than an hour, and covered more than a mile of water before this grand fish started showing signs of fatigue. Every time I would crank down hard and finally get his head to turn, he would make another 100yd run. Eventually we started getting him near the boat more and more frequently, and I actually thought we were going to win the battle. By this time the whole coastline had turned black and there were fingers of lightning working back and forth across the skyline. The seas had kicked up and we were taking every third or forth wave over the bow. The bilge pump was doing its thing and we were trying to do ours. Finally, I got him nearly underneath the boat and gave a giant heave ho to try and surface the fish, and Snap
. Oh well, we had no camera, with us anyhow, and sure as heck did'nt have any way or reason to try and land the fish. I guesstamated the fish's lenght to be around 9' and his weight to be around 300#. I guess he will be there to watch over all the scallopers this year. I just hope he does'nt hold a grudge
.Fish Masterson
But it's always nice to have a "non-scalloper" along that stays in the boat and cleans the scallops for the scallopers. 
