tailsmack

[Sea Flat]

Same type of story as a lot of you. A few years ago I was fishing a spot that consistently giving up 20lb. bass. After my buddy boats on I get hit, set the hook and I truly felt like I had a 50 lb. fish on, I was absolutely sure it was at least 40 lbs. Well, it was a bluefish hooked in its side. So depressing!!!

[Finaddict]

Early 90s, tarpon fishing north of Sanibel, FL on Johnson Shoals just off the north end of Cayo Costa (the island that borders the south end of the Boca Grand Pass), just released a nice tarpon on fly ... the fish were pouring through and a pod of fish stalled and started to daisy chain off the bow of the boat ... I grabbed a spinning outfit with a crab, threw it out and hooked up immediately ... during the first 15 minutes of the fight, felt a "slip" and then the fish put on the afterburners ... fought the fish for more than an hour, we honestly thought it was the big Mam-Moo ... thought it was the big one/record class as it was exhibiting the habits of a real big fish - no jumps and stayed deep with the occasional role to gulp air ... when the fish finally came boatside, we realized that the hook had slipped from its mouth and hooked it in the pectoral fin ... still a big fish, but not overly big for tarpon - we were expecting over 200 ... but not even half that size. It was a good way to cap off a day of non-stop action.