# close to shore catch



## Jighead (Feb 11, 2009)

What isyour most unusal catch nearshore/inshore.Came to mind after learning about snapper and grouper in the bay and the white shark reported hanging around.


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## hjorgan (Sep 30, 2007)

A 2 lb stingray in Lake Monroe, Florida. Lake Monroe is over 100 miles from the ocean. I thought that was pretty bizarre.


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## saltfisher1 (Oct 8, 2007)

Cowfish on the seawall at Perdido Pass after a tropical storm.


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## Jhoe (May 4, 2009)

I caught a large mouth bass at the lillian bridge once. it was after a ton of rain a few years ago. i imagine the salinity was low enough for him to make it over there. there sure werent anything but catfish and that bass in the bay at the time.


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## Jhoe (May 4, 2009)

If I remember correctly someone caught a chicken dolphin in east bay last year.


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## ScullsMcNasty (Oct 4, 2007)

i caught a sheepshead in blackwater river when i was a kid. caught it while bream fishing with wigglers.... also almost caught a gator gar while camping at Ft Mcrae a few months back. it swam under my boat and hung out for awhile. i even touched its back once when it got too close


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## tigershark (Oct 16, 2007)

buddy caught a barracuda out of a kayak about 200 yards from the beach

my daughter has caught an eel and a pufferfish from the dock ( not sure how common that is) 

Mine = 4.5 ft Dusky shark


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## BloodyWaters (Nov 22, 2008)

150# Tarpon. while catching hard tails in between the sand bars last year i had a pod roll up and hooked up with a 9 and a half foot silver monster. was out there for kings and ended up getting my first Tarpon ever. released unharmed to fight another day.

did i mention i was on a Kayak, using 20# test ,40# steel tip-it,7500 penn , on a medium action star rod.

oh yeah, by the way. he beat my ass for about an hour and a half. 

Capt. Ollie, Bloody Waters Kayak Fishing Team.


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## Jighead (Feb 11, 2009)

> *Jhoe (7/3/2009)*If I remember correctly someone caught a chicken dolphin in east bay last year.


I was on the pier in Pensacola about 10 years ago and some guys had several Chicken dolphins. How common is that? 

Cool Tarpon story. I think some dickhead cut my first Tarpon off with his prop last weekend. I'm not sure it was a Tarpon but in a few years after I tell the story 100 times I'll be sure that it was. (it was a huge fish coming out of the water alot...about 100yds away.


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## John Becker (May 2, 2009)

can't think of much that beats the kayak sail fish story recently.



lots of great fish caught close to shore...but still...........a SAIL FISH from a KAYAK?!?!?!


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## fred (Dec 28, 2008)

I caught a 31 inch red snapper at the 3 mile barge out of Perdido Pass a few years ago. It was late Sept or Oct and the wind was howling out of the north. 3 miles was as far as we dared and it was rough there. He hit a flat line and a cigar I was drifting for king.


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## Turbow (Mar 7, 2008)

Caught a lookdown in the sound by Hurlburt under my dock lights.


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## King Crab (Dec 28, 2008)

See manatees in the spring & fall migrating. See sturgeons also migrating. the beach is a interstate to alot of diffrent species. even whales. They usually come from the east in the spring, Back to the east in the fall. See big gatorgars on the beach. never know what you'll see.


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## gatord96 (Oct 25, 2007)

I caught a 16 inch red snapper not too far offshore...apparently they're rare so you can only keep 2


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## rauber (Oct 10, 2007)

a 38 lbs blackfin tuna 10 miles offshore back in 07.


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## BloodyWaters (Nov 22, 2008)

> *King Crab (7/5/2009)*See manatees in the spring & fall migrating. See sturgeons also migrating. the beach is a interstate to alot of diffrent species. even whales. They usually come from the east in the spring, Back to the east in the fall. See big gatorgars on the beach. never know what you'll see.


about 3 years ago. had a manatee scare the piss out of me when i was wade fishing just after sunset on the grass beds near shorline. made my buddy freak too. havent seen another since. but have seen otters in texar by the trussle.


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## King Crab (Dec 28, 2008)

Seen trigger fish, Snappers, groupers, Aj's , All off the p-bch pier. atDiffrent times of the year. Black fin tuna, sailfish, heard of yellowfin, Seen larger marlin jumping furthur out. Guitar fish, & a whole lot more.


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## Collard (Oct 23, 2007)

My Uncle hooked one of those small rubber kid's toy great white sharks in the surf years ago. Hooked it right in the mouth like it ate. That was really weird. He's kinda skittish, so not knowing what it was he was tellin' my cousins to "Get back,get back!" I mean even if it was real it was like what.......12-15 inches long. I guess all he could see was all those white teeth


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## Benniwise (Mar 9, 2008)

My fishing partner caught a trigger fish under the bridge going to Perdido Key.


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## Jighead (Feb 11, 2009)

> *King Crab (7/5/2009)*Seen trigger fish, Snappers, groupers, Aj's , All off the p-bch pier. atDiffrent times of the year. Black fin tuna, sailfish, heard of yellowfin, Seen larger marlin jumping furthur out. Guitar fish, & a whole lot more.


Marlin from the pier? Blue or white? Once heard a rumor of someone catching a white marlin in P'cola bay. Anyone heard that? Are kings ever caught in p'cola bay?


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## nb&twil (Oct 2, 2007)

tons of kings in the bay. they should be showing up now and will just get more plentiful as the summer goes on and the menhaden get thick in the bay. several good kings landed each year from palafox and around 3mile.


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## ScullsMcNasty (Oct 4, 2007)

almost forgot my dads weirdest catch.. it was a long long time ago back when you could keep bull reds. heck it might have even been before there were a limit on them, i dont know how long ago that was though.. anyways, this is how my dad tells the story. he said he was slaying the redfish in the pass. catchin the big bulls, one right after another and then all of the sudden they stopped biting. all of the sudden his rod doubles over and he fights the fish for awhile. gets it to the boat and its a tuna!! i dont remember what kind of tuna it was but im guessin YFT. they get it weighed and it was 63lb 6oz!! if anyone else told me this story i would probably be kinda doubtful but my dad told me so i know its true.. how common do yall think this is? i havent ever heard of anyone else catchina tuna that big close to shore, much less in the pass!


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## FreeLine (Oct 5, 2007)

I caught a striper in the sound in Navarre a few years ago.


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## Fish Happens (Oct 21, 2007)

> *Jighead (7/5/2009)*
> 
> 
> > *King Crab (7/5/2009)*Seen trigger fish, Snappers, groupers, Aj's , All off the p-bch pier. atDiffrent times of the year. Black fin tuna, sailfish, heard of yellowfin, Seen larger marlin jumping furthur out. Guitar fish, & a whole lot more.
> ...




My grandfather use to tell me stories of how there were Marlin in Pensacola Bay in the 30's.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

I caught a 1 1/2lb mullet on a 5 inch Zoom super fluke while trout fishing, in the mouth not snagged.


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## FL_Panhandler (Oct 9, 2007)

4-5lb snook in Grand Lagoon, (Panama City.)


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## jvalhenson (May 14, 2008)

i have a couple that stand out to me.....first wasa little over 3years ago just after Hurricane Katrina....fishing in some ponds in Harrison County just off Biloxi Bay we caught several speckeled trout, flounder and redfish.....also heard of several others doing the same thing especially over in Hancock county. figure they got displaced with the surge as the ponds were totally covered..you could tasteand feel the salt in it just like out front. heard one instance in Hancock county of guys catching trout in a pond and having oneofthem bittin in half and ended up being a 5 foot blacktip shark was in there too. i highly doubt this is still happening since it is going on 5 years now so i doubt the salinity of the ponds will still support the saltwater fish but maybe they adapted to a slow change back or something and might still be in there.....havent really thought about it again till now so might have to check it out again soon.

the other was a couple weeks ago while floundering...was walking and just sticking the gig in the sand going along and felt something pull hard on the gig....looked back at it and could not see anything...bottom not churning just something under the sand pull on the gig....had no idea what was and was not about the stick my hand under the sand to find out what it was so tried to pull it up with the gig but it came off and then out of the sand. it was some kind of big eel about 6 feet long and as big around as my arms at least. looked like the ones we catch offshore at times in deep water but this was in 6 inches of water. could not really tell what color it was but it either brownish or redish i think with a really big head and mouth. have seen several shrimp or sand or grass eels floundering but never anything like that. even crazier than that was when it came out of sand it just kinda turned and faced me for a few seconds then dug itself back into the sand from the tail first and this thing was able to dig itself in and totally disappear within maybe 2 seconds....all six feet of it gone like that. kinda creeped me out for a few minutes....makes you wonder what else is buried in the sand.


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## BentStraight (Dec 27, 2008)

I once caught a Spider Crab with a body the size of a volleyball while fishing for white trout in the turning basin ar NAS. it got all wrapped up in my line, I thought I had some debris, boy, what a surprise!


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## splitshot (Mar 14, 2008)

about a year ago i had a 14" bass jump in the boat when i was turning around inthe end of a canal...started to keep it butdidnt..caught a cowfish in a cast net, it was about 7" long, i believe the biggest i've seen


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## Jighead (Feb 11, 2009)

> *jvalhenson (7/6/2009)*i have a couple that stand out to me.....first wasa little over 3years ago just after Hurricane Katrina....fishing in some ponds in Harrison County just off Biloxi Bay we caught several speckeled trout, flounder and redfish.....also heard of several others doing the same thing especially over in Hancock county. figure they got displaced with the surge as the ponds were totally covered..you could tasteand feel the salt in it just like out front. heard one instance in Hancock county of guys catching trout in a pond and having oneofthem bittin in half and ended up being a 5 foot blacktip shark was in there too. i highly doubt this is still happening since it is going on 5 years now so i doubt the salinity of the ponds will still support the saltwater fish but maybe they adapted to a slow change back or something and might still be in there.....havent really thought about it again till now so might have to check it out again soon.
> 
> the other was a couple weeks ago while floundering...was walking and just sticking the gig in the sand going along and felt something pull hard on the gig....looked back at it and could not see anything...bottom not churning just something under the sand pull on the gig....had no idea what was and was not about the stick my hand under the sand to find out what it was so tried to pull it up with the gig but it came off and then out of the sand. it was some kind of big eel about 6 feet long and as big around as my arms at least. looked like the ones we catch offshore at times in deep water but this was in 6 inches of water. could not really tell what color it was but it either brownish or redish i think with a really big head and mouth. have seen several shrimp or sand or grass eels floundering but never anything like that. even crazier than that was when it came out of sand it just kinda turned and faced me for a few seconds then dug itself back into the sand from the tail first and this thing was able to dig itself in and totally disappear within maybe 2 seconds....all six feet of it gone like that. kinda creeped me out for a few minutes....makes you wonder what else is buried in the sand.




Did it looklike this?


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## Fisher218 (Jun 26, 2009)

6 foot bull shark in a kayak about 900yds out, tried to get back to shore to land him but spit the hook half way back. scared the shit out of me when i first say the grey shape in the water and buttoned down the drag bout half way and tried to paddle back to shore,because im not landing a shark in a kayak by myself that far out i dont care what size it is.


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## bayougrande (Oct 4, 2007)

40lb. stergon on a stretch 25 on the west side of gulf breeze(deer point)


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## stringle (Oct 3, 2007)

Blue gill in Biloxi Bay. Also, a couple weeks ago in about a 15 minute period; caught one each red and black grouper off a pier on Pine Island (SW Fla). Okay, they were only about 12 inches long, but still!


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## Pinksnappertrapper (Dec 7, 2007)

Before hurricane ivan i used to catch legal grouper, snapper, and triggerfish at a spot in the bay. I have fished it and around it a number of times now and havent had a bite.


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## The LaJess II (Oct 3, 2007)

Catching a Black Fin Tuna outside of Destin Pass in Oct. Missed the rodeo by 1/2 oz. of winning the tuna. When I say out side of the pass i mean the bouy.


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## stargazer (Oct 6, 2007)

caught 12 foot gator on a mitchell 302 w/20lb line in east bay. Hell of a fight and a story!


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## stargazer (Oct 6, 2007)

How about a 12ft gator is east bay on a mithell 302 w/20lb line? CAUGHT!


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## redfish maniac (Jul 19, 2008)

Redfish in the Mississippi River at New Orleans


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## Rag-Tag (Apr 20, 2008)

Wow made me think,

not me but my uncle gave me an article from a Destin or Ft Walton paper about 10 years ago with an article about several (7-10 at least) pretty sizeable (35-60#) cobia caught from the Cinco Bayou Bridge. I didn't even know where that was and thought a misspelled Chico for a few then looked it up and would seem pretty rare to me as it did to the fishermen and journalist.

With us though a couple that come to mind would be a pinfish on the Monsanto Boxes on Halloween day in 91 I believe that was HUGE and ate a live cig on a king leader on top(not sure where it may have swam but started on top) it had to have been 3lbs

Two years ago in really shallow really dirty water off Fourchon, LA we had a sailfish estimated over 100# and a 25# jack cravalle double hook-up. The jack just run of the mill dirty shallow water crap but Jake Adams spindle beak that ate the cheater bait still out the back while fighting a fish off the bow was really cool. "Cajun Bluewater experts" per Bill Butler, fueling at Venice Marinaheard the measurements and first told me "you don't measure the bill too dumb ass" due to the length but when assured of our measuring accuracy said it should have easily been a LA state record and since LA actually keeps an official top ten largest fish of each species on official record it would have no doubt landed in the list of not at the top.

back in the Grady-White days one of my crew Cam Johnson caught about a dozen nice spanish mackerel in a bait net in Bayou Chico, not all in the same throw but after seeing them strike then catching 3 in a toss unknowing what they were and actually looking to catch some of what they were feeding on he had to keep tossing

When I was about 10 and we got our 1st boat a 20' Hydra-Sports and 2 friends of my father came with us to show him how to use the loran etc we used a "spanish galleon" in 17' of water as the "test" because you could see it from the surface and we anchored and I was bored wanting to fish and caught a good trigger and noticed what looked to be A LOT more down there so I cut up some cigs etc and dad would toss a piece or two in to get them swarming then another to raise them a bit and I ended up catching 33 of them 1 on the rod and in a 4' bait net 32 that we kept, we let go probably as many that were from about 12" down to 3" or so, I also caught a spanish mackerel that day in the net

Then the last and by far the best (if really true and mom and dad have always swore it is) my mom and dad were fishing/boating one day while I was at school and I have no idea what kind of fish if any they caught but "right by the #1 sea bouy" which then was just the green one by itself at the end of the channel not in a pair with red #2, they stopped "so dad could pee??" and the lines sunk to thebottom I suppose and they reeled them in and a Zukers Feather Duster that was pretty big with even bigger hooks caught a sanddollar about 8" across by way of the hook passing through one of the 3 (I believe) existing slits (for lack of a better word) on the face of it!! It was brought home alive and that nasty pokey grey but is now bleach white and I still say if that they were lucky enough for that damn hook tofall through there that I should have been lucky enough to catch a 55# king but didn't happen yet, still waiting


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## salt-life (Feb 20, 2012)

Bump!!


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## Razzorduck (Oct 22, 2007)

Using a sabiki in West Pass I caught 4 8" Lookdows at once. I was looking for King bait. At the time didn't know if they would work or legal so they got released and I got a new rig....old one was a tangled mess.


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## oxbeast1210 (Jun 21, 2010)

A pelican..


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## sniperpeeps (Mar 5, 2011)

Juvenile trigger in a crab trap in SR sound


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## salt-life (Feb 20, 2012)

sniperpeeps said:


> Juvenile trigger in a crab trap in SR sound


man that is soo weird the same thing happened to me but i was in cinco boyou.


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## FishGolfDrink (Apr 19, 2011)

I caught a starfish.. on a live shrimp... it wasn't even hooked, just like suctioned to it. Totally weird.


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## kanaka (Oct 3, 2007)

During my pier rat days at the OIP, I was working a 2 1/2 oz Croc spoon for kings. Blast it out there, let it hit bottom, rip it up about 10 handle turns, let it settle back down. Came up with a live 4" sand dollar hooked from the underside ???? still have it. A few casts later, brought in a spoon. Don't think I did catch a fish that day....


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## logan88 (Feb 9, 2012)

me and my brother were fishing in bayou chico on our 9 foot jon boat when he hooked onto an alligator gar thalong.t was roughly 8 foot. we were fishing and he hooked onto a speck and the gar ate the speck. we were able to pull it next to shore and see what it was then we cut the line.


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## bywkqhj (Jan 9, 2011)

I caught stingrays in Lake Harney, even further upriver from the ocean than Lake Monroe,
but I didn't think that was too bizarre, as red drums have been caught in Lake George


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## lastcast (Oct 12, 2007)

70# Wahoo on the bottom slow bumping a cigar tipped buck tail jig for Grouper at the Paradise hole.


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## sniperpeeps (Mar 5, 2011)

lastcast said:


> 70# Wahoo on the bottom slow bumping a cigar tipped buck tail jig for Grouper at the Paradise hole.


Now that's a badass unexpected catch


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

I caught a sailfish in the sound across from Chicken Bone beach....in a dip net.

Seriously, it was a dying baby sailfish maybe eighteen inches long.


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## Firedawg (Feb 28, 2008)

Back in the early 90's when I was stationed at Tyndall some guy was walking the beach by the Dan Russell pier with a Cobe jig and saw a big fish in the surf. He casted to it, but it would not eat, only follow the jig. He caught a ghost crab, put it on the jig, threw it back out, and caught a 60 or 90lb YFT. His pic was in the newspapers, pretty cool.


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

Firedawg said:


> Back in the early 90's when I was stationed at Tyndall some guy was walking the beach by the Dan Russell pier with a Cobe jig and saw a big fish in the surf. He casted to it, but it would not eat, only follow the jig. He caught a ghost crab, put it on the jig, threw it back out, and caught a 60 or 90lb YFT. His pic was in the newspapers, pretty cool.


A few years ago I saw a YFT running the sand bar at Pensacola Pier. I thought it was a monster bonita until it swam right under me and the pier and I could see clearly its huge pectoral fins.


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## sniperpeeps (Mar 5, 2011)

Firedawg said:


> Back in the early 90's when I was stationed at Tyndall some guy was walking the beach by the Dan Russell pier with a Cobe jig and saw a big fish in the surf. He casted to it, but it would not eat, only follow the jig. He caught a ghost crab, put it on the jig, threw it back out, and caught a 60 or 90lb YFT. His pic was in the newspapers, pretty cool.



:001_huh:...hunh?


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## Biller48 (Oct 1, 2008)

Pcola Bay a few years back.

1) Juvey Cobia dragging a stretch 25, fish just barely bigger than lure and not foul hooked.

2) Same day, keeper flounder on same stretch, not foul hooked either.

3) biggest bull shark I have ever seen on a finger mullet, I mean about 3 inches long, hooked em in the channel out in front of NAS marina, 2.5 hours later and two trips in and out of the pass, finally got a look at him in front of the jetty, fought him on a 2 or 3/0 circle hook, 30lb flouro leader and 20lb mainline, had a hell of a crowd of boats for a while, then everyone scattered about the 1/2 hour mark. Could not straighten my arms for the rest of afternoon.


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## marmidor (Mar 15, 2008)

Around 2006 or so I was sheepie fishing east of Pickens pier and noticed something that didn't look right in the water so I pulled anchor and went to check it out. I was surprised to find a beautiful Britney spaniel swimming across the bay. As I got to him he was almost to the beach so I just let him get on dry land and then I pull the boat up so I could pick him up. He was EXHAUSTED and more then happy to see me. He was asleep before I could get the boat backed off of the sand. Took him to the house gave him a bath,bowl of food and a warm bed for a couple of hours. I was all about keeping him but we ended up finding the owner. His story was that was on the flybridge and didn't notice his dog had fallen over. So if you take you pet on the boat with you, keep a close watch on them!


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## bigone (Jan 2, 2008)

Three different occasions, caught a 38lb wahoo on a duster/cigar minnow rig going around the whistle bouy in Destin 08', pretty good size king(not sure of the weight, but about as long as my leg) on a 00 clark spoon, trolling for spanish, and about a 4ft hammerhead under the Destin Bridge.


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## Kenton (Nov 16, 2007)

Barracuda on Three Mile


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

50" hoo trolling for kings at the second buoy of Pcola Pass.


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## beeritself (Nov 25, 2010)

8' hammerhead off Chickenbone beach. I was shark fishing though. We just didn't expect to catch anything that large. We generally catch 4'-6' blacktips. It took 3.5 hours to get to the beach. I was sore for a few days. Devinsdad probably also had to ice his arms when we were done


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