And on a PLUG!! Congrad's Couldn't have happened to a better guy!

I heard some rumblings bout that. Congrats to the fisherman, now where are the pics :)

OK, here ya go

Congratulations to Gary!

Awesome! Is he still on cloud 9?

Awesome! Is he still on cloud 9?

He was when I talked to him at 5PM! :uhuh:
What a nice fish!!

what a tank ---wow

Gorgeous fish. What kind of plug is that?

Congrats Gary, must be a rewarding feeling catching a 50 on one of your own plugs

Way to go.

Congratulations Gary. Great job!

Bring extras of that plug to Asbury!!!

KM

congrats man

A well deserved fish.... I backed out because of a 6:30 am ferry ride... Ugh
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Gorgeous fish. What kind of plug is that?


According to Lou he caught it on a BigWater 8.5" Pikie... one of his custom Pikies that he builds... olive over white

Awesome!

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!:jump1:

Holy cow. Niiice

Tremendous fish Gary. A lifetime achievement. BIG PLUGS CATCH BIG FISH!!!!!

Awesome. Couldn't of happened to a better guy, he fishes hard and is a great plug builder.

iPhone/Mobile device[/i][/size]

GREAT catch / one for a lifetime / one hell on a awesome memory ;;;:fishin:

Great catch ... sweet ...

Nice

:fishin::uhuh:

pfft. I bet if he was on a boat, he couldn't catch nuttin! Let's see him put on a pair of docksiders and a sweater vest THEN catch that big girl!!

:hihi:

Just kidding... Awesome catch, congrats!

Wow,

That is a great picture!!!!!! Must feel good.
Is 50 a scale weight cause that looks like 50 and then some to me?

pfft. I bet if he was on a boat, he couldn't catch nuttin! Let's see him put on a pair of docksiders and a sweater vest THEN catch that big girl!!

:hihi:

Just kidding... Awesome catch, congrats!

:rotf2::rotf2::rotf2:
I love it!!

A fish you can tell your grandchildren about when you are 90. Congratulations Gary.

Amazing. That's how a fish picture should look!

Congratulations Gary, that's one hell of a fish, must feel awesome especially taking it on your own plugs!
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Very nice Gary, very nice! Big plugs will do it!

Looks bigger than 50 even. Real fat rugged fish! Congrats.

Looks bigger than 50 even. Real fat rugged fish! Congrats.

I agree. More like mid-50s. Congrats. Great fish!!!

That's a great fish, Congrats Gary

Congratulations and on wood :uhuh:

Great picture...Awesome fish...!!! Congrats to the Angler

I think I read it was 51...

Awesome fish in some nasty conditions too. Most were home in bed...

Nice Fish, Congrats!

According to the email I got from Gary, it was 51#, 53" long and had a 29" girth. Awesome fish for a great guy. :uhuh:

Congrats on a great fish :kewl:

Nice fish...and on a big bait.. I love it... my guess would have been 54-56...

According to the email I got from Gary, it was 51#, 53" long and had a 29" girth. Awesome fish for a great guy. :uhuh:




WOW,,, nice fish Gary :fishin:


VB

Nice PB and even sweeter taste being on your own plug! Big bait:big fish, think I heard that somewhere.....maybe from Gray?

nice fish Gary


big presentation =big fish

damn!!! Thats fantastic. Congrats.

Congratulations Gary :btu:
good to see you got it on your own wood:uhuh:

Nice going Gary! Couldn't happen to a better fisherman.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

that is a great fish! congratulations!!!

WOW SUPER GREAT FISH GARY

great fish great picture. That thing is huge thanks for sharing

Congrats! Very difficult thing to do right now, and on a plug!

Congrats G.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Awesome fish! It makes that big plug look small.

Wonderful fish! Congratulations. I was fishing Montauk that day. Impressed you were out there trying. It paid off!!!

amaizing fish, congrats!

very very cool, great picture too what a freakin beast, makes that 8.5'' plug look like a lego piece

Own plug, own design, toughest conditions, great fish.
It doesn't get any better than that.
Fantastic achievement.

Own plug, own design, toughest conditions, great fish.
It doesn't get any better than that.
Fantastic achievement.


Ditto!

Great fish Gary! Congrats!

pfft. I bet if he was on a boat, he couldn't catch nuttin! Let's see him put on a pair of docksiders and a sweater vest THEN catch that big girl!!

:hihi:

Just kidding... Awesome catch, congrats!

:rotf2::rotf2::rotf2: So funny.

Shore fish don't count, especially ones caught on self-made wood!!

Seriously, that is amazing. A huge fish that you should cherish forever.

Nice fish, many congrats!

Gorgeous fish!

Real nice fish in lousy weather , with one of your plugs. Congrats.

Outstanding, Gary. Love that new bunker pattern!!!!

That's a beauty!

Congrats. Way to stick out that tough weather and make it pay off!

I heard that some guy named Ted caught it, and then passed it Gary for the quick pic ... HAH!

Seriously ... awesome fish, awesome plug, awesome dude. Way to go, Gary!!! Great White Cow Hunter!

Beautiful Fish, but it sure looks bigger than a 50 to me !!

According to Zeebaas- he caught it on a new 2.5 lefty version that just came out.

I guess they work- congratulations again . Gary.

Hope the reel catches another 50 for you.

A spinner??? really?
I wonder how he manages to cast those with a spinner.

looks bigger than 50 to me too

Congratulations! Beautiful fish!! :uhuh:

Well deserved,,, Great fish Gary, congrats!!

This is Garys own account - enjoy - Roy Curley


October 22, 2011

Hello Surfcasters,

I have exciting news: I got my "50" (actually 51 lbs.) early Thursday morning, October 20. My dream has always been to catch a 50 in a raging storm. Careful what you wish for...the weather was wild!

I left my house around 8pm for my 2 ½ drive to the water. I was headed for a particular Lighthouse in Rhode Island, aiming to fish the incoming on a late high tide (2am). Before leaving my house, I had talked to a fisherman about a lure order and found out he was from Rhode Island. I asked him about the conditions and he said they were pretty good -- light wind -- and he thought it would be a pretty nice night except for some rain. Personally, I expected the weather to be rougher, but his version sounded pretty good. I was not chasing any reports and had not heard of many fish being caught. I put in a book tape and off I went. Not a lot of rain on the way down, so easy driving.

When I got down to the shore it still was light rain and did not seem to be much wind. I suited up and went down to the light. When I looked over the sea wall my whole world changed! The surf was huge, the wind was whipping out of the northeast, and there was now a driving rain. The water was at the high tide mark two hours before the high tide (2am). Since I had thought the weather was going to be slightly more favorable, I had packed plenty of SLIM Trollers and Traditional Trollers thinking I would be able to get in the water and get these bigger plugs out quite a distance. That was not the case.

Not only was the weather not cooperating, the CTS rod I usually use was being repaired (I had dropped it on the Cutty trip, and a friend stepped on it and broke the tip). So I was using my 12' Century NG Spod rod rated 3 to 6 -- great for casting Trollers in calmer weather but better suited for casting Giants in wild weather. I was dressed up in my wetsuit and standing well up the rocks away from the water because of the big waves sweeping in. I found that I needed the extra distance I could get with a Surface Giant to fish this maelstrom. As a result, I used the only Giant Pike I had with me - a Dark Olive Iridescent Scale.



Warming Up - and the One that Got Away
I had to stay well back from a rock I usually fish at high water and there was still 2 hours until high. I dropped one fish after my 3rd cast, It didn't come right in so a pretty good fish, but I didn't see it. I was mad I dropped it because I felt like there were not a lot of fish around. I fished for another hour along that side for no hits.

Next, I went around to the front of the light and the waves were bigger and coming straight in, but the wind that was not blocked by the lighthouse was with me, so I could cast pretty far even though I was pretty far back from the water. I don't fish the front of the lighthouse much because it's pretty shallow with a lot of rocks. But there was plenty of water in there now, the wind was with me and it was all white water. So, why not?

Despite it being so wild, the water was clean and it looked real fishy and my pikes were swimming really well in the "Big Water". I was getting my Giant out there pretty good and it was holding well in those big waves.I had already had a fish on it so I stayed with it. It was pretty beat up from fishing it in big waves at the Lighthouse in Montauk the week before. It had a deep gouge in the back and both glass eyes had been broken. I replaced them just before this trip.

The Fight!
I had been fishing for about a half hour out front, enjoying the thump of the plug swimming. On my next cast, I had the plug a third of the way in when I got the hit. The fish did not feel that heavy at first, but she was in shallow water and in big surf and she could not dig in. I felt I lost the prior fish because I played her a little too tentatively, so I laid into this fish and fought her very aggressively. I have found that if you give a fish it head it will likely take you into the rock, but if you get right up on her and break her spirit early you can get her in pretty quickly.

As she got closer, I was trying to keep her up in the big waves to let the waves pound her and help bring her in. At one point a big wave hit her and I lost contact with her. A brief panic...but I reeled up the slack and she was still on. She dug in one time and I held her there until another wave came and hit her. I could hear the rod creaking and the reel was moving in the reel seat. I did not want to spend a lot of time trying to find her with my light, but I did want to see her in case I dropped her. At first glance, it seemed a mid-30's fish. When I got her in, she looked like a 40, and when I went down and tried to pick her up she was heavy. I ended up sliding her up the rocks as they were slick with rain.

You hate to kill a big fish but by the time I tried to weigh her and take some picture, we were both done in. With the big waves there was no way to get down in the water to revive her. I always wondered what I would do if I caught a really big fish. I am not into mounts and the best case would be to weigh it, take some pics and let her go. This time I was by myself and the conditions were too extreme to do anything quickly. I could not hold the fish up and read my 60 pound boga in the driving rain. I put my camera on the sea wall and put on the timer. I had 10 seconds to push the button run over and pick up the fish and try to hold up for the camera and look happy. After doing that 10 times, I was pretty tired. I finally hung my boga up on the fence above the sea wall. I hung the fish up and it was still leaning against the wall and the boga read somewhere between 46 and 50.

Soon after, a guy came out, looked at my fish and said "That's a 50". He helped me take some pictures though we were still unable to read the boga. While I rigged up, he fished my spot for an hour for no hits. I fished a little bit more, but I was done emotionally. The wind turned south and blew right in our faces. The surf got even bigger and it became unfishable out front.

Around 3am I left the Lighthouse to go find some ice. Thank God for the all night 7/11. The woman there even gave me a free bagel sandwich after she saw my fish. I started working my way home and to find a tackle shop to weigh the fish. I was resigned to the fact the fish was under 50. At 6am, I got to Quaker Lane Bait & Tackle just as it was opening. We weighed the fish on their digital scale. It was 51.

Damn, I got a fifty. Take a look! I thought my time had passed. I am fishing less and getting older. You just never know what life has in store!

A Few Interesting "Firsts"
The 50 was the first fish I have caught since using a new knot to attach my line to my leader (uni to uni) that I learned from Dante Soriente. This knot eliminates the need for a swivel to connect the line to the leader ; it also eliminates the fear of reeling the swivel through the tip top and guides, and damaging them.

Another first was my switch from 50 braid to 30 lb. FireLine Fused Original. It is supposed to have better abrasion resistance and perform better in the rocks. It may also have gotten me a little more distance.

Finally, this is the first fish I have caught on my new left-handed Zee Baas (I have one of the first) ZX25 reel. This reel is as smooth as silk and picks up the line easily in windy conditions. It fishes like a dream and held up to the rigors of fighting and landing my 50 in wild conditions.

Gary

Great story ,, Congrats Gary ... doesn't get any better..

Just can't imagine....you look like you really worked hard to get that fish! Great photo, fantastic fish...doesn't get any better....

Roy-

thanks for posting this... Most of us are still looking for our first 50.. and I hope mine comes in the next few years as we are not getting any younger... I love the fact that Gary got his on his Pikie under some very challenging conditions at a very special spot.

Well done. Great story.

The story makes the photo look even better. That's a fight and a fish you never forget, congrats again and thanks for sharing the story.

That's how a picture should look.

big fish in nasty surf, a dream come true. Thanks for the story

great story. congrats again...

AWESOME story. Congrats on a trophy fish

great story, great fish! Thanks for sharing it.