# Yellow Gravel Scamp, Chickens, & a surprise visitor



## Scabs (Oct 30, 2007)

Chuck, James and myself headed out to yellow gravel this morning at 5:30. What a beautiful sunrise! This was our first trip out to the area and were kind of shooting in the dark. We anchored up in 220ft of water. On the first drop Chuck brings up two nice scamp. James and I battled 28" aj's on butterfly jigs for the first hour while Chuck continued to put more meat in the box. Switched to squid and picked up a few more scamp and some nice chickens on board. We all changed to bigger baits and dropped some chum bombs in hopes of picking up some better quality fish. The next hour was spent dealing with 4 foot sharks. Not what we were looking to catch. I dropped a big live bait on a Penn 115, put it in the rod holder, and started to send a boston mack to the bottom when all hell broke loose. James' reel starts screaming, the 115 starts screaming, the boston mack rod starts screaming all at the same time. I hand my Saltist 50 with the mack on it to Chuck and grab the heavy rod. We all think we are hooked up on a bunch of monster Aj's. Well James looses his, then the 115 goes slack, so Chuck hands me the Saltist so I can battle that fish and he can get his rod. It seemed heavy, but I thought I was gaining. Then 30 feet behind the boat there explodes a monster mako. If you have ever seen an animal that big, that high in the air, and so close to the boat, you know the awe that struck all of us. 

Just a side note. James later explained that he was immediatelythinking of an escape route if this fish ended up jumping in the boat.He planned to dive between the bimini and thewindshield onto the bow.It wouldn't have mattered.The boat would have sunk.We three had experience with a five footer last January, so we knew the possibility was there.

Back to the story. The fish jumped twice more near us and then took off. 500 yards of linelater we are still trying to windlass the anchor up to chase it. Not because we thought we had a chance of getting this animal boatside, but to save thebrand new 100 powerpro I had just put on the reel. I burnt the hell out of my thumb trying to break the leader. 80lb flouroand 100lb pp are a real pain to snap. Then the fish skyed twice more and finally broke off. I would personally like to thank this fish for giving me the most exciting 15 minutes I have ever spent on the water. Its hard to believe we battled it as long as we did on flouro and a 8/0 circle. Our best guess on this fish was a conservative 10ft and very thick. I don't know how much a mako that size weighs. James tried to take some pics on the final 2 jumps, but it was too far away. 

After that we were too screwed up to fish seriously, anymore. Got in at 3pm.

Final tally: 5 Scamp, 4 nice sized chickens, 14" trigger, 1 Goggle eye (weird) and a bunch of thrown back Red snapper, white snapper, and small AJ's


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## parrothead (Oct 1, 2007)

Awesome report. Thanks for sharing. That Mako must have been something to see.

Scott


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## David Ridenour (Sep 28, 2007)

Great post! What an experience. You just never know in saltwater............


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## reelhappy (Oct 31, 2007)

awesome. report where's the pics?


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## Stressless (Oct 2, 2007)

Great report from a dude out of town a alone this Thanksgiving...



Stressless


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## nb&twil (Oct 2, 2007)

Great report, thanks for sharing. We got to see a few decent size makos from the pier last year. I was totally awestruck by one that I had eat my bait and jump about 50 yards and then ~100 yards from me. I can onnly imagine what it was like right behind the boat. Truly an amazing sight to see!


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## theangrydolphin (Oct 2, 2007)

Me and a friend caught a similar Mako at Paradise hole a couple of years back with a similar experience. What a rush!


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## reelfinatical (Sep 30, 2007)

That's awesome!! I'da loved to have video of that!


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## roofordie (Sep 24, 2008)

??????:takephoto???????

Sounds like a nice trip


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

dang!... awesome report!... those mako's are fun.

conservative guess at 10' & fat... 400+ Easy.


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## ateupwitit (May 26, 2008)

Nice report:clap I'm stuck at work on Thanksgiving :banghead Glad to read a good fish story!!!!!!


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## Inn Deep (Oct 3, 2007)

Twice I have been lucky enough to hook aMako off shore. Watching them sky has been the most incredible thing I have ever witnessed off shore. The 1st was was on the edge. We had blackfin schooled all around the boat. The Mako hit a flat line and skied 5 times right next to the boat. I would bet he weighed over 700lbs. We were on a 23' boat. I had the same thoughts afterwards. What the hell would I do if he hit the boat. I am afraid he would have knocked ua all out of it. The 2nd one I hooked was 5 miles off the beach during cobia season. It was probably about 250-300 lbs. Got about 4-5 good jumps off him right next to boat.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

I have yet to catch one.....and it pisses me off! 

If it was indeed 10' long and healthy itcould weigh anywhere between 500-600lbs.


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## specslayer (Oct 9, 2007)

thats awesome i sooo want to catch one...if the conditions are perfect i might just try to jump one out of my yak....not the smartest idea i know but doubt ill get a chance


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