# Pensacola Beach Pier 8/10/18



## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

Let's start off with a question. Have you ever been set to do some reel maintenance and something came up and you forgot to do....LIKE LUBE YOUR DRAG?

This is all AFTER fishing through a helluva storm with hard rain, high winds, lightning popping, high winds, bait almost impossible to catch because of the high winds...did I mention it was windy during that storm?

King #1 was a dink who exploded on a live LY. Pulled the hook at the pier cranking him up, no biggy. 

King #2 also exploded on the surface on a live LY. About 10 pounds on the deck.


Next was a big blacktip. Fought him up to the pier to get as much braid back as possible. Braid finally broke at the swivel.

King #3 skyed a live LY. 30+ fish, screaming off my #40 braid top shot . When I got close to the spice on the #20 mono, I loosed the drag some. Here is where my screwup on missing lubing the drag on that reel, a Luxor no.3 hurt. The drag started sticking from fiction and retightened itself.as soon as the 20 mono came off the reel...POW....no more smoker king.

Changed over to my backup reel...Gen1 706Z...with a freshly serviced drag.

King #4 ate a small live Jack crevelle, plus the leader.

King #5 should be 5a and 5b. 2 kings follow a dead LY up. 5a hits it, I freespool, Jack him up...he turns loose of the bait...which is then eaten by 5b.5a was the larger fish, but 5b has got some shoulder on him, too. Right after the braid top shot went out, felt the king shake, quit running, shake again, then started running slow. Seems a couple of sharks were hungry.

All in all, a fun day, frustrating as hell....but fun.


----------



## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

Don't believe ya!!!! Nope, you been here long enough brother..... PICTURES or it didn't happen!!! gezzzzzzzzzz so how many did ya bring home fer smoking?


----------



## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

Jason, I give the kings away. For me, eating any fin fish is the same as a person allergic to bees getting multiple stings....life threatening. My throat swells shut and my eyes swell shut. Can't breath and can't see to call 911. My ex damn near killed me in Sam's club with a sample of a burger she said tasted great...turned out to be Mahi Burger. Funny though because I can eat canned fish like tuna , sardines and herring steaks (notice that 2 out of the 3 are bait fish, lol). Fresh tuna will kill me though.

As far as pictures...well....i was a little busy for a selfie and I'm too damn cheap to buy a Go pro to film fish embarrassing me,lol.

The king yesterday went a guy in a power wheelchair who wss giving fish hell with a bubble rig.


----------



## wrightackle (Oct 29, 2007)

Dang a Luxor#3! That is something you don't see everyday. If memory serves me right they don't have the typical drag stack that you see in reels nowadays. Should be an easy fix. Kings turn on during storms like that but fishing thru it with lightening popping may not be the best choice.


----------



## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

Sounds like a classic afternoon bite at the pier, Skip! Like the good ole days!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


----------



## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

wrightackle said:


> Dang a Luxor#3! That is something you don't see everyday. If memory serves me right they don't have the typical drag stack that you see in reels nowadays. Should be an easy fix. Kings turn on during storms like that but fishing thru it with lightening popping may not be the best choice.


Secret to a Luxor drag is to keep the drag lubricated. I have 3 No.3 Luxor plus a parts reel and one No.3 LA and one No2. 

Tips for fishing storms
1) make sure someone located away from you is fishing a longer rod and holding it straight up.
2) don't fish by the flagpole
3)cringe each time it lightnings...doesnt do any good, but you can tell yourself you ducked that one
4) if you are using mono and all the little nicks and abrasions start glowing, or the hair on your head ( or on your arms, if you are bald like me) stands up, brace, because you are about to experience a close encounter of the high voltage kind
5) put down the graphite rod or composite rod.

Funny, the kings did NOT run on that storm front. They turned on after main storm passed and it was just drizzling.


----------



## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

John, it was nothing like the good old days. Only two of us got hits from kings. I was in the SE corner and the other guy was right beside me on the east side. Ever king hit was from due east in that narrow little space. Kings were preferring big LYs. 

Very few cigs this year and the ones that do show have to be snatched. They are ignoring sabikis. Not even catching the small hardtails the kings love...all big boys.

Conditions were perfect for kings yesterday, good wind, waves, decent current...just not many fish.

Wasn't a crowd on the end, either.


----------



## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

Well that sucks. I hate that I'm getting to the point where I can say "back in the day" (I know I'm not even too old yet, 30 in a few weeks) but even 12-15 years ago, every afternoon at 2pm, it was on... if you could get a bait in the water for a few casts, you would hook up. Several afternoons of 100+ fish being caught. I refuse to believe a handful of gulf coast piers have decimated the king population. I wonder what happened?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


----------



## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

John, could be that we are at the low end of the 7 year cycle all marine life works on...or salinity from all the rain. Thread fin aren't out there, herring aren't there, cigs are avoiding the pier. Water has some " color" to it, can't see fish running deep.

Couple of the guys who charter say not many kings on the near shore reefs and wrecks like normal. Choke-a-loosa has been fairly stead on kings and Spanish, so I am thinking fresh water coming out of the bay in this area.


----------



## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

Dag allergic to fishies... that sucks!!! Glad ya got on em... 



Yeah ole man JB, back in the ole days... Just imagine in a few years, back in the ole days we spent more time texting then hunting and missed out on several deer!!! hahaha


----------



## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

Damn, John, I remember you standing on tip toes to see over that rail at the pier.


----------



## Lawdog88 (Oct 9, 2009)

kingfish501 said:


> Secret to a Luxor drag is to keep the drag lubricated. I have 3 No.3 Luxor plus a parts reel and one No.3 LA and one No2.
> 
> Tips for fishing storms
> 1) make sure someone located away from you is fishing a longer rod and holding it straight up.
> ...




Now those are some funny observations mixed in with some doggone good suggestions !


----------



## jigslinger (Sep 30, 2007)

I agree with #5 for sure. I had times when I HAD to put it down because it was burning my hands!


----------



## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

jigslinger said:


> I agree with #5 for sure. I had times when I HAD to put it down because it was burning my hands!


Back when the old Dan Russel pier in PCB ruled the Gulf Coast, we were fishing a storm where every throw got hit by a king. Guy next to me was fishing a graphite composite. Big bolt hit about a quarter mile off the end and he slung his rod away from himself....said the rod shocked the crap out of him. I was using a DynaFlex glass rod and I got a pretty good tingle.


----------

