# The Octagon Tackle Thief Busted!



## Ugly 1

For all of you that have been victims of the beast at the Octagon that has been destroying tackle for the last couple months, I dedicate this post to you, your broken rods and your miles of line that have been ripped away from you!! Ok enough BS!!! After a failed trip to the gulf I decided to head over to the little octagon pier at Bob Sikes. After reading posts and talking to many fisherman that have had tackle destroyed I wanted to find the responsible party so I broke out the big guns. I pitched out some chunks of ray on my trusted G Loomis, my 4/0 and my new 9/0 all baits were within 20 ft of the rail. The loomis was the first to go, reel started screaming line out and after about 100yds I started to crank down the drag on my 4000 series shimano and after about 20 yds the beast stopped turned gave a couple huge head shakes and spit the hook! After about 40 minutes and me falling asleep in my chair like usual I'm woke up by the sound of a screaming 9/0!! After letting it run for a good 100yds I tighten the drag down and set the hook. I was shocked to hear what sounded like someone threw a cow off the bridge!! After the huge splash the beast was pissed and headed for the pass! Between the noise the 9/0 made and the splash at 3:00 in the morning, people started showing up to see what the hell made that noise. After about 40 minutes and help from Sawyer, Nathan and Andrew we got the beast landed took some mugshots and watched the beast swim away unharmed. Thanks for the help guys at 7 ft and 250+ lbs of Bull I could not have done it without you! UGLY


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## DeepSouthHunter

Awesome! Where's the pics?


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## MoganMan

Was an absolutely amazing end to a great night, never seen someone catch a fish that big before! And man, that 9/0 is loud! We heard it while walking back to the car from bob sykes!


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## rufus1138

lol do not swim near bob sykes.....dayum.


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## southern yakker

Dang that's a beast! Nice fish for sure!


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## orion3

Finally!


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## ThaFish

*The Beast*

For anyone wanting to see Ugly with his catch, here's the monster. Nice catch Ugly! Glad we could help ya out with that one. Let us know the next time you're going shark fishing, we'd be happy to join you if you want some company.


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## Pompano Joe

Way to go Ugly! Congrats on a nice one!


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## ThaFish

*Another Sweet Picture..*

Figured you might want this one too. Sprinklers messed up the focus on the camera & the exposure was set too low, but at least I still got one!


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## cobe killer

good job on the shark!! people don't realize what swimms amoung us i shallow waters!!


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## Fisher Belac

Wish I didn't go to the car and fall asleep I could have seen a great catch. Good job though. Glad they were there to help you land it!


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## Ocean Master

I live just a little bit from where you caught him and I have seen a Bull Shark swim by my dock 2 times in the past 12 years. This is the summer when the Mullet are thick.


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## Ugly 1

ThaFish said:


> For anyone wanting to see Ugly with his catch, here's the monster. Nice catch Ugly! Glad we could help ya out with that one. Let us know the next time you're going shark fishing, we'd be happy to join you if you want some company.[/QUOTE And you guys thought Ugly was just a screen name!!!!! Funny, that's the same scared look I get every time I jump in the water with a pissed off shark. UGLY


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## devinsdad

AWESOME!!!! Way to go on the big Bull.


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## holicori

Adda boy ugpy


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## DAWGONIT

that's an eating machine for sure.
WTG on the hook up and landing.
catch 'em up.


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## drifterfisher

I lost many rods and miles of line there...Why did you release it? I would have tried to eat it or fed it to my hogs.


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## AVIDfisherman

Wow crazy. Nice fish Don! I wouldve never expected catching that thing so close to the pier.


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## MoganMan

This settles it, I'm buying a shark set up.


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## Ugly 1

drifterfisher said:


> I lost many rods and miles of line there...Why did you release it? I would have tried to eat it or fed it to my hogs.


 I have not had anyone tell me how great bull shark tasted and I cant see killing animals just because of what they are capable of doing. Bull sharks as scary as they may be are a native species with a very important role in the eco system. I would rather release the shark and have it be there for future anglers to fight even if that results in a few broken rods, and some empty spools. Now hogs on the other hand are about as destructive as it gets and I sure do love pork chops and ribs!! A 250lb hog crosses my path and its BBQ time brother!!! UGLY


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## ARslinger

there are bulls that are easily two times that size in the bay this time of year. be ready for another my friend.


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## flex

drifterfisher said:


> I lost many rods and miles of line there...Why did you release it? I would have tried to eat it or fed it to my hogs.


sharks are crucial for the ecosystem. they are natures vacuum cleaners. you might think that they hurt fishing but they actually help fishing

you should always release a shark of that size.


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## Orion45

Great post. The bull sharks are definitely in the ICW.


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## Smarty

Ugly 1 said:


> I was shocked to hear what sounded like someone threw a cow off the bridge!! After the huge splash the beast was pissed and headed for the pass!


 Too funny bro! That's around the time I lugged a huge stingray over the edge off the end of the bridge. That big sucker hit the water flat like a 400lb beer belly dude in a belly flop contest at a frat party :laughing:
Great catch man! You said you were going after it and you damn sure pulled it off. After catching plenty of shrimp I stayed until about 7am. As it almost always happens I was starting to pack up when I finally got my slot redfish of 26". I'm thinking the fight wasn't quite the same :no:
Was good to meet you the other night :thumbsup:


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## drifterfisher

Ugly 1 said:


> I have not had anyone tell me how great bull shark tasted and I cant see killing animals just because of what they are capable of doing. Bull sharks as scary as they may be are a native species with a very important role in the eco system. I would rather release the shark and have it be there for future anglers to fight even if that results in a few broken rods, and some empty spools. Now hogs on the other hand are about as destructive as it gets and I sure do love pork chops and ribs!! A 250lb hog crosses my path and its BBQ time brother!!! UGLY


It would have still been an important part of the eco system,Pig food! I have 3 I am fattening right now. They love when I go fishing,they get the backbones. The 3 of them can demolish 50 mullet carcasses in a matter of minutes. One of the females is getting very large,I think she will drop a litter soon.


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## Ugly 1

drifterfisher said:


> It would have still been an important part of the eco system,Pig food! I have 3 I am fattening right now. They love when I go fishing,they get the backbones. The 3 of them can demolish 50 mullet carcasses in a matter of minutes. One of the females is getting very large,I think she will drop a litter soon.


I guess its time to catch a tasty keeper shark and the surf and turf is on. Nothing like fresh seafood and some hog to fill the belly. Keep me posted on when its time for the hog to join the BBQ and with a shark a few hundred lbs of crab and mullet Im sure we could feed a few of our PFF buddies!!! The first annual Surf N Hog BBQ coming soon! Made me hungry just typing!!!! UGLY


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## Ugly 1

Smarty said:


> Too funny bro! That's around the time I lugged a huge stingray over the edge off the end of the bridge. That big sucker hit the water flat like a 400lb beer belly dude in a belly flop contest at a frat party :laughing:
> Great catch man! You said you were going after it and you damn sure pulled it off. After catching plenty of shrimp I stayed until about 7am. As it almost always happens I was starting to pack up when I finally got my slot redfish of 26". I'm thinking the fight wasn't quite the same :no:
> Was good to meet you the other night :thumbsup:


 Thanks Smarty it was great meeting you. I was sure they were down there after doing my research. And lucky that the beast picked the wrong pole to mess with. Great way to break in my 9/0!!! UGLY


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## Yellowrivermudder

Nice Bull Ugly! I have a few Senator setups, and a fresh caught ray I'm gonna be baiting out there soon. This here fish might end up on the end of one of my lines.


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## konz

It's that time of the year. Nice catch. My buddies and I catch them on spinning tackle. I'll probably run into you out there some time.


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## lowprofile

Awesome bull bro! your cell pics didn't do it justice. hope you get a monster tonight!


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## tofer

AR is right, there's some monsters out there. Spend some serious time pier fishing, and you see them. Once in a while there's a 10ft fat one hooked, 500# of pure muscle. Its always going to stand out to me, one time I was just fishing for spanish with a gotcha and suddenly a BIG 10ft bull shark is right behind it and lunges for it. Comical seeing a fish of that size chasing a 3in lure. :thumbup: Priceless. Nice fish Ugly! Blacktip is pretty good, but never tried bullshark.


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## JD7.62

Well dang, I was planning on doing a bit of free diving over in that general area before stone crabs close. Not sure if I will or not now.


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## Ugly 1

JD7.62 said:


> Well dang, I was planning on doing a bit of free diving over in that general area before stone crabs close. Not sure if I will or not now.


 theres a few showing up in traps down here JD let me know if your coming down maybe I will give it a shot with you. UGLY


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## Ugly 1

Has anyone landed or seen any of these beasts hanging around lately? Last couple trips I have been skunked. I just wondered if anyone else is hooking up with monsters landed or not? UGLY


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## holicori

As i mentioned the other day don, i hooked up that grouper...but somebody that was helping snapped my line....grrr


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