# hunt for Giant Reds. Destin



## lowprofile (Jan 6, 2013)

Ugly and I decided we hadn't been out in a long while so we took the blues we caught Sunday morning and went looking for reds. armed with two rods each our plan was to find a nice gut somewhere in Destin and fish the edge of the drop off and the rip. 

we got there around 7:30pm and got chunks of bluefish in the water. first fish was a catfish... oh yeah, great start to the night! :thumbup: around 10:30 i finally caught another bluefish, it came in at 19 3/4". just in the nick of time too since the smaller blues and cats had picked apart all but the last peices of bait we had soaking. I had the head of a blue soaking on the Ulua rod most of the night and it had been picked at and the meat sucked out. around 11:30 I decided out red hunt was a bust and i had to get up early anyways. Ugly said "well hey, atleast you beat the skunk!" and i replied with, "i think id rather be skunked than catch a catfish!" which he then replied, "you got that blue didnt you?"

thats right, i did and we still have about half of it left. nice, bloody fresh bait. OK! lets keep at it. i cut off a small chunk about 1" wide and 1.5" thick from its back and hooked in on the Ulua and then put the belly piece on my CUI. got them both out in the gut and played the waiting game. 

11:45pm i was helping Don cast the three OH! 9/0. we got the bait cast out and then i saw the Ulua rod bounce and go slack. then it bounced hard 3 or 4 times and slowly began to double over and peel line. 



set the lever drag to strike and it was on! what could it be? is this really the MONSTER redfish we were looking for? could it be a 50 incher? could it be 60!?!?! :blink: or maybe its just some big dumb shark... whatever it is, id doesn't like being hooked and its STRONG!



Ok Mr. fish you just keep taking line and i'm going to give my nuts a rest. 


finally it stops running and i can start to gain line


no tail slaps and big surges... is it THE RED?


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## HappyHourHero (Jan 31, 2012)

76" Nurse shark with a missing pectoral fin.


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## lowprofile (Jan 6, 2013)

Cont...



I finally get a glimps of the beast as it passes through the small but relentless surf. 


she comes into the wade gut and now we can clearly see the culprit that has kept the Ulua bowed over the past 25 minutes.








first shark on the Ulua rod. 6'6" sand bar on a little piece of Bluefish.


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## Ugly 1 (Feb 8, 2013)

HappyHourHero said:


> 76" Nurse shark with a missing pectoral fin.


 a NASCARK is easy to ID they only make left turns when your fighting them and they smell like beer!!! But you are within 2" of the length of the beast. UGLY


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## HappyHourHero (Jan 31, 2012)

Ugly 1 said:


> a NASCARK is easy to ID they only make left turns when your fighting them and they smell like beer!!! But you are within 2" of the length of the beast. UGLY



Haha! Cool report guys! Thanks for sharing!


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## Ocean Master (May 20, 2008)

Great report..!! Thanks for sharing..!!

I remember when we could drive our trucks on the beach at Johnsons beach, spend the night drinking beer, and catch all the bull reds you wanted. Good ole' days..


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## jcallaham (Dec 13, 2009)

like a little piece of candy for that shark. nice catch, great story.

If I ever get to do that kind of during the winter I'm bringing my waders


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## Ugly 1 (Feb 8, 2013)

jcallaham said:


> like a little piece of candy for that shark. nice catch, great story.
> 
> If I ever get to do that kind of during the winter I'm bringing my waders


 it was actually really warm in Destin last night! When we jumped in the truck to head home it was 70degrees! And tonight it's freezing! Glad I'm not out there tonight........yeah right sitting at home sucks! UGLY


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## MoganMan (Feb 24, 2013)

Nice shark, wasn't the bull you were looking for but it's better than being skunked!!!


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## pompano67 (Oct 28, 2013)

Oh man..AWESOME !!!! Bout time that rod got a REEL work out haha..Why do you make the little guy use it??? Haha great job guys!! Pics are beautiful good timing on the water shot..Double shifts are over time to get back to fishing!!!


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## pompano67 (Oct 28, 2013)

Yeah om those were the good old days..I miss them too..Remember pitching tents,setting up the gas cooker and living it up ..


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## lowprofile (Jan 6, 2013)

pompano67 said:


> Oh man..AWESOME !!!! Bout time that rod got a REEL work out haha..Why do you make the little guy use it??? Haha great job guys!! Pics are beautiful good timing on the water shot..Double shifts are over time to get back to fishing!!!


ahah. im 6'6". that rod is just BEAST!


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## pompano67 (Oct 28, 2013)

Looks to me like you're not having any problem handling it...Ya'll going this weekend?


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## lowprofile (Jan 6, 2013)

pompano67 said:


> Looks to me like you're not having any problem handling it...Ya'll going this weekend?


hopefully. we have some stuff to do today and getting started a little late then hunting for bait.


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