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Snapper
 
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4 - 5 miles off the beach on Monday; Well, we get a late start around 2pm as my clients couldn't go out any earlier. The gulf looked pretty good, but that changed fast. It went from 1 - 2 ft seas to 2 - 4 ft in a very short time. We fished for a solid 4 hrs hooking up some red snappers and one fish that took over an hour to land. Jenny brought up her fish, but the man in the brown suit decided that he wanted a snack, and this is what was left. As you can see, I brought out the light tackle for Snapper, because we were not getting a lot of good bites, but I did keep one big rod out spooled up with heavier line.
We fished for a little while longer, and then Becky said, "I've got a bite, and it's pulling the rod out of my hands!" I took the rod, and sure enough, this was not a red snapper. I said, " I think we just hooked what ate Jenny's fish."
I told Mark to get over here and put the boots to this fish. Well, all I can say is Mark and his family will never forget this trip. Mark told me that this was the longest he has ever fought a fish.
He's a bass fisherman from Tennessee, and after a solid 45 minutes his arms started to cramp up and he had to hand off the rod for a few minutes to rest up and get a drink. I took the rod and let him recuperate for a few minutes, and then he went back to work on the man in the brown suit.  What a battle! Of course, with 60lb mono and 60lb leader, it was a battle that we could lose very easily. I didn't know how the fish was hooked, but I was pretty sure the fish was hooked in the mouth since we hadn't been cut off, yet. Everyone on the boat wanted to see this fish and after about an hour we had him boatside.
When we got the shark boatside, it was a very cool sight. My crew had never seen a shark in the wild before and needless to say, they were very excited.I put the gaff in the shark's mouth, so we could snap a few pictures, and then we released him back to his stomping grounds.  Now, I'm no shark expert, but I think it's a bull, but I'm not positive. I estimated the shark to be over 7ft, maybe even 8ft long. He was very fat and had some nice pearly whites!I guess he may have weighed somewhere around 200 + lbs . This fish was very fat, but we weren't going to keep him around discussing diet tips.
Shark experts, what are your thoughts?
Tight Lines.
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Capt. John Rivers
850-341-9816
Pensacola, Fl
Mega-Bite Inshore Charters
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Snapper
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Bull!
John - BuckWild "The Original"Pathfinder 23DV-F225 yammy "Liquid Chaos"  
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Snapper
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BuckWild (5/13/2008)
Bull!Shark that is!
John - BuckWild "The Original"Pathfinder 23DV-F225 yammy "Liquid Chaos"
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White Marlin
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Good for you for giving them the memory of a lifetime. That's what counts. Yep, bull shark it is.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "H2O: 2 parts hydrogen 1 part obsession." Jon
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Snapper
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Wow! Thanks for posting. Great pics Capt. It is great to see people from out of the area having a reason to come back here. What a story for them. Thanks for posting.
You catch some, you lose some but the beer will never say no or try to run away.
18' White Ranger Center Console.
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Snapper
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| Here are a few more pictures. I cropped them to get a closer look at the Shark. As you can see in one of the pictures, my first attemt to put the gaff in his mouth failed as he turned at the last second. It's a good thing I had two gaffs onboard so I could get a gaff in his mouth and keep him boat side for a few pictures. I was very careful to release him some what unharmed. 
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Capt. John Rivers
850-341-9816
Pensacola, Fl
Mega-Bite Inshore Charters
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Trigger
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Cool report and great pixs, bet those folks never forget that trip. 
SEAPRO 19
Yamaha F115
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Grouper
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| Good report Capt. John. I'm sure they will be telling that story for a long time. The Shark action has picked up the last few weeks or so. I think this is going to be a good year for Sharks or bad depending on how you look at it.
___________________________________________________
20ft Bayliner Trophy Cuddy w/150 Yamaha 4-Stroke
MMSI# 338069659 Some of my Pic's
http://www.forumpictureprocessor.com/gallery.asp?gallery=1175
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Snapper
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Yeah, I'm sure they will be talking about it for a while. Mark had a great time battling him, but after we took a few pictures, he told me he his forearms were spent. He took a good 15 minute break. I told him there was no need going to the gym this week. This was by far one of the biggest sharks that's been hooked on my boat.
It was great seeing his and his family's reaction when the shark came boat side. I'm sure I'll hook some more this summer, maybe we'll get a bigger one, who knows!? " Were going to need a bigger boat!"
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Capt. John Rivers
850-341-9816
Pensacola, Fl
Mega-Bite Inshore Charters
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Snapper
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| Derail!!! Dammit buckwild, what the hell is that sticking out of your head????
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Ruby Red Lip
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hjorgan (5/13/2008)
Derail!!! Dammit buckwild, what the hell is that sticking out of your head???? Whatever it is, it looks disgusting and probably infected! Please take that picture off your emails!  That's definitely a bull shark. You can tell your guests they caught the deadliest shark in the seas (in terms of number of attacks globally each year)! 
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Trigger
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| Looks like a J hook buried past the bend. It's only going to hurt once but boy is it going to hurt.
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Grouper
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I could have used that fish Saturday.
Fish On!!!
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Snapper
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| You are going to get a lot of chances at repeating that scenario. There are sharks galore around. It is great for the guides though. It gives you a chance to put your customers up against a real tough critter. For some reason the sharks love that nearshore live bottom. Good report and pics.
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Snapper
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Here is a silky shark we caught last year. Joe hooked this one and fought it for a good 45 minutes on 30lb tackle; it was almost dead by the time it came to the boat, so we took it back to cook for my clients' family reunion. 
Here is a cool picture of a nice hammerhead I saw sunning itself in the gulf one day. I hooked one like this in the bay last year while shark fishing.
Last year when the Discovery Channel had shark week on, I ran a lot of shark trips. Most of my clients saw the shows and wanted to hook up a toothy critter. There's something about sharks that makes people very excited. It's also great sportfishing. Small sharks like this one are great for kids, because they can reel them in pretty easily, and get to see it up close. 
Tight Lines!
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Capt. John Rivers
850-341-9816
Pensacola, Fl
Mega-Bite Inshore Charters
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