# King From the Beach Today



## HappyHourHero (Jan 31, 2012)

Went out to Johnson's Beach this morning to continue my so far unsuccessful quest to catch a nice shark from the beach. It took me a really long time to catch a ladyfish for bait and we were about to leave when I finally got one. 

Much to my girlfriend's dismay, we went and unloaded the kayak and I paddled the head half out past the 2nd sand bar. 

Some tourists set up less than 10 yards from me and then started swimming and floating around on their paddle boards. Their son got tangled in the line of my surf rod so I reeled in it after he got untangled. About ten minutes later the parents had drifted out to the sand bar and were right over my line on my shark pole.

I'm sitting there complaining to my girlfriend about them when my reel starts screaming like never before. I tightened down my drag and line just kept peeling off. The paddle boarders were looking at me and people were starting to crowd around. My girlfriend thought that I was tangled up with them. It went on another pretty god run and this time we could see it was for sure a big fish and not hung up.

I fought it for 20 or so min and then got a glimpse of it. I thought it has to be a barracuda and some of the tourists were saying its for sure a shark. I gained some more line on it and could not believe what I saw! It ended up being a King!

I have never caught one before and was very surprised thats what it was. I can see why so many pier fisherman try to catch them. The fight was epic.

Rod- 7' 6" Shimano Terramar SE Heavy
Reel- Diawa SL30SH Spooled with 65lb PP and 40 yards of 80lb mono Topshot. 
Bait: Ladyfish head
Time of day: 11:30am


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## PAWGhunter (Feb 3, 2010)

HELLS YES! That's a nice one too. Congrats!!!!!


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## 706Z (Mar 30, 2011)

Un-beweavable


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## marmidor (Mar 15, 2008)

Dang fine king and from the beach!!


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## 07 Fatboy (Jul 10, 2013)

Great catch from the surf!!


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Sweet!


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## c_stowers (Jan 10, 2012)

Wow! That's a nice one. Congrats!


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## Ugly 1 (Feb 8, 2013)

Good job HHH! It wont be long before you get into a nice shark! I was at Navarre pier Monday night and one of the guys caught a nice 8' hammer on a chunk of king for bait. He told LP he has been catching big sharks with kings for a while. You might want to eat 36" and feed the rest to a big hammer! Great King and good luck on your shark! UGLY


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## Dragsmoker (Aug 15, 2011)

Man that's a nice king! Congrats!


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## Trill (Mar 8, 2013)

nice smoker


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## DAWGONIT (Jan 16, 2009)

trill said:


> nice smoker


wtg!!


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## WhereYak? (Jun 25, 2009)

Hey man, we were the guys in the yaks that came in right after you landed it. Congrats! That was a nice king by any means, but especially nice from the surf.


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## andrethegiant (Sep 14, 2010)

Awesome
I had just asked the question a couple weeks ago if you could even catch a king from the surf- well I guess this answers that question :thumbsup:


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## Hotsauce (Jul 28, 2009)

Nice!


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## Coastiefly (Feb 2, 2012)

Das nuts!


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## Pompano Joe (Jan 28, 2009)

Yeah Baby! That'll get me back on the beach mid-summer!


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## AVIDfisherman (Jan 31, 2013)

Thats awesome man. Great report. Cant believe it hit a shark leader!


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## lowprofile (Jan 6, 2013)

fillet that thing from the anal fin back and use the rest as bait!


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