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When dreams come true
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| vtec junkie |
I wanted to share one of the best life experiences I have ever had with you all. As some of you know, Steven, Sheila, and myself went on a fishing charter trip this morning. So at 7am sharp we left the house and went to pick up some snacks and drinks and headed down to the docks. The weather was gorgeous out and something told me were going to have a great day but I had no idea what was in store for us. We headed out to sea around 8am and stopped to pick up some bait from a bait boat on the way out. It cost us an extra $75 but to us that was worth the extra hour it would have taken to catch our own bait. As we headed out into the Atlantic, the water was like glass and very calm. On normal circumstances this is not very good fishing conditions but there was a strong southern current that made up for it. The mate on the boat Dave started rigging up the rods and dropped the riggers. We were about a mile from shore and you could see the whole Florida cost with Miami off in the haze....what a beautiful site. Once Dave had the rods ready we dropped the lines in and started trolling. Not even three minutes into our trip.......FISH ON!!! I grabbed the rod and started fighting the first fish of the day. After about a 15 minute fight the fish was finally on the surface and Dave broke out the gaff and brought the fish on board. It was a 40" Wahoo!!! Trophy size for sure as these fish are rare this far north in Florida.....they are usually caught in the Carribean and the Keys.
After that catch we pretty much figured that was going to be the catch of the day considering how excited the captain and mate were but we were wrong. Not long after we hooked into a few King Fish. Sheila hooked into the first one and Steven got the second one. Not long after that I hooked into one as well. Kings put up and awesome fight for their size.
After a bit another rob bent over and I hopped back into the chair and started fighting another fish. It felt like I had a whale on the other end.....the fish was taking line off the real like nothing. After about a 20 minute fight I finally got the fish up on the boat. It was Bonita which looks like a tuna. Beautiful fish!
By this time in the morning we were seeing all kind of action. There was a school of Tiger Sharks off in the distance chasing bait fish on the surface. Our captain said we could try and catch one but the problem with catching a huge shark is that the hooks they use really tear the shark up and most of the time after fighting it for so long....the shark will die. We did not want to kill the shark so it was not worth trying to catch. Just after that there was madness going on not to far from the front of the boat. A shool os about 20 sail fish were jumping out of the water one after the other.....it was and amazing sight! Dave rigged up a rod with live bait and ran to the front of the boat. We pulled right up to them and Dave tossed the line right in the middle of the school. I sat there with my eyes wide open as a sail fish came to the surface and grabbed our bait.....SAIL FISH ON!!! I jumped onto the front of the boat and Dave handed me the rod......the fight was on! This was something I watched on fishing shows ever since I was a little kid and never thought I would ever have a chance to catch one. The fish was kicking my ass for a good while....after about 15 minutes the fish made it way to the surface but nowhere near the boat.....all of the sudden the fish jumps completely out of the water and spins around shaking his head back and forth....My jaw hid the floor. He jumped a few more times putting on quite a show. Dave moved me to the back of the boat to finish the fight as he was trying to get another one on. When I moved to the back I started to gain on the fish. Sheila was standing right behind me snapping away pictures with my camera. This fight lasted about 30 minutes and we had the fish boat side. Dave put on some gloves and grabbed the bill of the fish and pulled him in after a few failed tries....the fish weighed well over 100 pounds. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL FISH!!! They measured the fish...89 inches which is about 7 and a half foot....the fish was bigger than everybody on the boat! We took a few more pics and let the fish go. I was so happy to see the fish swim away with no problems at all.....he lives to fight another day.
Since we brought the fish in the boat there was a little misunderstanding between us and the captain. The captain said we will not bring the fish in the boat unless I wanted to mount the fish. But I'm a catch and release guy and wanted to let the fish go...but I wanted to measure and get pics of the fish so I could have a replica made of it. But anyways long story short because we boated the fish we agreed to have a replica of the fish made through a company that works for the charter so I had to fill out a form and make a down payment on the replica which is pretty damn expensive. Sheila was nice enough to pay the down payment for me and I'm going to pay her back. I was kinda pissed that they didn't explain it better but Steven said "you know what mate, it...this is a once in a lifetime experience and you can't put a price on that." He was right....I can't wait to show this thing off on my wall! I was shaking for a few hours as the adrenaline was flowing through my body. I couldn't believe it all happened.
After that we decided to drop some live bait on the bottom. Afer a few minutes we had something. Steven got in the chair and fought this fish for a good 15 minutes. He got the fish up and it turned out to be a Amberjack and a pretty nice one. Now this was probably the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. After we got the fish into the boat I wanted to get a picture of Steven with his fish. Only prob was.....Steven didn't know how to hold the fish lol. So he picked the fish up like a baby and held it against his chest lol.....the fish slipped out of his hands and fell on the deck.....but not before I snapped one funny ass picture. I grabbed the fish by the mouth and let him go.
After the it was almost time to head back so we just worked out way back up north and ran into a school of tuna boiling over the top of the water. We tried to catch them up had no luck. Time to head back to shore. The mate put an upside down sailfish flag on the down rigger to let everybody know we caught a sailfish and let it go. We got back to the dock and took a few more pics with our catch and that was that! What a day, what an experience, and one of the best times of my life.
Have a look at the rest of the pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/116227...2947556/detail/ |
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| jerZ07002 |
| Nice dude....that sailfish was stunning. Great pic of the fish jumping out of the water. Most of all, its nice to hear that you let it go. Keep the oceans healthy. |
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| vtec junkie |
| quote: | Originally posted by jerZ07002
Nice dude....that sailfish was stunning. Great pic of the fish jumping out of the water. Most of all, its nice to hear that you let it go. Keep the oceans healthy. |
Yeah I'm a catch and release type of guy. Unless I catch something worth eating like striped bass I let everything go. The only reason we kept some of the fish is because the captain wanted them for shark bait.....his boat he says what goes. |
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| zizack |
cool man.
i would have gone after the Tiger Sharks though... :disbelief |
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| vtec junkie |
| quote: | Originally posted by zizack
cool man.
i would have gone after the Tiger Sharks though... :disbelief |
Trust me I really wanted to cause I'm all about sharks but I didn't wanna kill it and the captain said it would cost over $3,000 to get a replica of one. |
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| fr0st |
| Yeah thats a really nice sail fish, normally you catch them in pairs. When i lived down south i went every week 2-4 times. Mostly going for the good eating type of fish and my favs are strawberry grouper and Mahi Mahi. Ive gone fishing for marlin a few times, but never with much luck. Its quite involving to catch one. Also your sail fish measures up to the best that ive caught 96", and 89" is damn close not to mention ive been fishing most my life in south FL, so that is a good damn catch. |
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| ReenTeenTeen |
Great Catches you guys!!!
I haven't been out fishing on the ocean since early January. There is nothing like a day spent fishing!!! :toocool: |
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| kid nyce |
| nice hooks brian - looks like a smashing time |
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| Bloodflower |
holy ing cow! brian! congrats for the swordfish pics! amazing...
i thought the nose of swordfish is not only spiky and like a saw too? or where these special gloves? the orange one?
really looks like a day u wont foget that quick ;)
(but when i red the title i though like: his dream came true? ok so it must have been the FFFM foursome he always wanted :stongue: :haha: :crazy: ) |
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| priscilla |
| Great pictures Brian. Looks like ya'll had a good time!! Congratulations on your dream coming true. |
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| kaykay |
| Ahhhhhhhhhhh THAT"S AWESOME!!!!! Makes me miss the Island in GA. My Dad lives in Tybee Island and that place is just amazing!!! I remember when I ALMOST caught my FIRST BIG fish!!! Like I said Almost!!! lol It great to see that you are having such a good time!! Shelia and Steven look so cute together!!! Congrats on the fishing trip!!! Great Pics!!! |
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| bogartgreens |
| looks like a hell of a time, awesome pics :disbelief |
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