# Your biggest Amberjack



## Wade Schepper (Mar 11, 2009)

I love amberjack fishing simply because it is one of the best fighting fish in the gulf. Whats the biggest one you've ever caught? Stories and pictures would be cool.


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## jim t (Sep 30, 2007)

A few years ago, I invited a couple people onboard, I don't remember who it was. One of the fellas was fishing for Mingo on the Edge, about halfway up a Mingo he had hooked got SLAMMED, by an AJ... Somehow the AJ got hooked and the fight was on... Itslammed him to the gunnel more than once... I'm pretty sure he was using a 325 GTI or close and 40# line or so.

You can see the Penn 4/0 in the background, I guarantee it was caught on a reel about that size.

A half hour later a 72# AJ was in the boat.










My boat has an 8' beam, so that fish was about 5' long...

I'm trying to remember who I was fishing with... it was abig guy from the original fishthebridge forum... ("emiral" or something close, nice guy).... I think MADMAX was there and it was the day we hooked a huge MAKO that put on a GREAT show... it jumped within a few yards of the boat. And if you've ever seen a Mako jump, they SKY out of the water then flip in mid air and go back in head first, body flopping sideways. It was so close I moved from the back of the boat to under the enclosure, just in case.

It broke off after 20 minutes or so. It was a winter a few years ago when the BFT were THICK on the Edge, a few boats reported hooking up to a big jumping Mako that year.

Anyway, that's my boats biggest AJ...

Jim


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## Tuna Man (Oct 2, 2007)

Jim, Nice AJ...I remember a guy by that name...Haven't seen it around in sometime.

<TABLE class=bbstable cellSpacing=1 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=messagecellbody>1740</TD><TD class=messagecellbody>elmiril</TD><TD class=messagecellbody noWrap>Blue Marlin</TD><TD class=messagecellbody noWrap></TD><TD class=messagecellbody noWrap>4143</TD><TD class=messagecellbody noWrap>4/27/2004</TD><TD class=messagecellbody noWrap>10/31/2008</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


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## reelhappy (Oct 31, 2007)

i caught this one last year. max out my scale 50# and bent the hook on the scale. guess he was a bit over! had me gunneled twice. arms were pretty rubbery when i got him aboard. is my biggest to date but going back for more! i am hooked on the thrill of the pull! and they taste good too!


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## DWL (Jan 24, 2009)

I am still pretty new to this saltwater thing. How close inshore do AJ's come in. Bay? Frighter?


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## wirebiter (Jun 4, 2008)

My biggest and first AJ. Just over 30 lbs. Don't remember exactly how much it weighed. It was the most fun I had fighting a fish. 

DWL the smaller onesdo come close to the freighter, but the big ones are usually further out like the Tenneco, edge and such.


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## SUNDAY-FUNDAY (Apr 17, 2008)

55# on a hardtail @ exxon rig..... tld 20 w/30lb mono- 40 feet down on dowrigger (for kings) a miracle, and some great boat work by my buddy.



largest hookup was 80+ at 989. speed jigging for blackies about 2am. fought harder than any fish ive ever tangled with. needless to say, he won. the ole tekota 600 wasnt up to the challenge:banghead:banghead:banghead


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## jim t (Sep 30, 2007)

> *Tuna Man (4/18/2009)*Jim, Nice AJ...I remember a guy by that name...Haven't seen it around in sometime.
> 
> <TABLE class=bbstable cellSpacing=1 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=messagecellbody>1740</TD><TD class=messagecellbody>elmiril</TD><TD class=messagecellbody noWrap>Blue Marlin</TD><TD class=messagecellbody noWrap></TD><TD class=messagecellbody noWrap>4143</TD><TD class=messagecellbody noWrap>4/27/2004</TD><TD class=messagecellbody noWrap>10/31/2008</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


Ron,

That's him I'm pretty sure... nice guy. I hope he's doing well.

Jim


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## specslayer (Oct 9, 2007)

im also pretty new and my biggest is right around 30lbs....i heard a guy hooked a decent aj in the icw near the pass out of his yak, went to gaff it missed and away he swam...this was recently too.










this little guy was really fun...was caught on a captiva 2000 with 10lb powerpro and a white pomp jig...if you saw true kings latest jigging vid you can watch the drag peeling off.


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## FenderBender (Oct 2, 2007)

93 lbs, 15 oz. Spearfishing July 4th 2008. I am positive this fish could not have been taken by hook and line.


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## Dylan (Apr 15, 2008)

> *FenderBender (4/18/2009)*93 lbs, 15 oz. Spearfishing July 4th 2008. I am positive this fish could not have been taken by hook and line.




Where did you spear that at??? Mr. Adams from Daybreak killed a 102lber..I dont want any part of that..


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## knot enough (Mar 8, 2008)

check this bad boy out!!!!!!!! I believe he said it was in the 100 lb neighborhood. the guy in the middle caught it and he's a pretty good size fellow. caught it a few months back.

JSB


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## Inn Deep (Oct 3, 2007)

80+ gunnelled me for about 10 minutes. 2nd one was caught on my boat by a friend.


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## Sea Monkey (Dec 26, 2008)

The OLE azz whoppin. 

The biggest Jack I've ever caught was a 72#er, We were fishing bout 30 mls. offshore. Madmax was with us. It was madmaxes first offshore trip. He would be hooked on bottom fishing because of that trip. I met Madmax on the old forum. Invited him to fish with us , he was a great fisher for a greenhorn!!! He could pump& wind on them like a pro. Madmax hope all is well. I remember Madmax askingmus if they are any Pirates we need to worry bout?? Back then we said no , but now-a-days yes, that is a possibility.


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## nb&twil (Oct 2, 2007)

My biggest is only about 35-40. But the biggest I know of was caught my Daniel Merideth and his crew. Daniel and his crew had the best bottom fishing trip I know of. They ran out, caught 4 fish and had to come home. They had no more cooler room. 4 fish - right at 400 lbs aggregate weight. The biggest 2 were something like 108 and 105 and the other 2 "smaller" ones were somewhere in the low 90's. I'll see if I can find pictures of those bad boys. I would put Daniel Merideth (and anyone on his boat) up against any other boat in the Gulf when it comes to bottom fishing.


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## DreamWeaver21 (Oct 3, 2007)

My reef donkey fishing started young. Picture is 15 years old. Thisfish was 52lbs GUTTED. Caught him on my dad's commercial boat fishing what we used to refer to as "the 4 hour spot". Now I just call it the edge like everyone else, but on his boat it took 4 hours to get there (8knt boat) so we called it the four hour spot. Note my friend (who was sick as a dog) making sure I don't fall over with the fish.










This is my biggest so far. This picture is 10 years old. Got him on the same boat but this time we were fishing 60 miles off to the SW. Gave myback hell.This fish lead me in circles around the boat multiple times. I think I went aound the whole boat 13 times. One side of the boat is clean soI could just walk up there with the fish, but the other side I had to hold the rod up and outto get around thebandit gear. We were anchored too so every lap I had to go up on the bow and figure out if my line was over the ropeor under it. It was still daylight when I hooked this fish but getting dark by the time I got him in. Itwas the better part of an hour fght on a TLD20. I needed help holding him for the picture. I was tired. This fish went 91lbs GUTTED.










Another pic of thesame fish. Next day I had recovered enough to hold it myself.










My most recent big back came in the Bud Light tournament of 2006. This one also came from the edge. 2nd place was ~36lbs so we won the jack division by a good bit. This is the biggest so far on my boat. Close to 88lbs whole weight. Got this one on a Penn 8500 spinning rod and 25lb test mono. Talk about some back spasms.


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## sealark (Sep 27, 2007)

I speared two Amberjack that looked like twins many years ago on the Poole barge that weighed Total for both 198 lbs. I was using a powerhead (Legal in those days).


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## nb&twil (Oct 2, 2007)

dream weaver... i remember that fish in the 06 budlight. when i first saw this thread a picture popped in my mind of you grinning ear to ear holding that monster. i knew you'd chime in. that was a heck ofa fish. i didn't realize it was landed on 25lb mono spinning tackle! that's awesome. looks like you've had several big donkeys over the years. congrats on some great catches!


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## seanmclemore (Aug 20, 2008)

my two biggest are both on spear. this one went 73# and the other went 91.6# (pic at my office, will post tommorrow). it doesn't look as bad ass as fenderbenders' because i didn't have a camera on the boat we had to take the pic at the dock. plus i'm not as skinny (sorry josh) that 93#er of his looks like its well over his body weight.

cheers guys


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## Inn Deep (Oct 3, 2007)

how do i make my photos show up with out having to use a link?


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

Do you use internet explorer? If you do when you post you will see a box up top with 2 mountains and a sun click on that and retrieve it from your computer.


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## FenderBender (Oct 2, 2007)

Ha ha Sean, enough with the skinny jokes I was 165 lbs. when that picture was taken, if he was my body weight I would have had a record. I didn't know you got a 91#er, thats awesome I;d like to hear the story and pics. And Dylan, I shot him at my favorite spearfishing spot, about 24 miles from the pass.


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## chaljo (Feb 25, 2008)

Do not know who this is in the picture, but got this in an email last summer from the gulf. This one apparently went 104lb.


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## ateupwitit (May 26, 2008)

I caught this one last year during the Alabama DSFR, it was about an hour long fight in about 250' of water. I used a huge squid, Okuma Titus 50 with matching rod and 80# test Ande. It placed 3rd at 84lbs. 2nd place was 85lbs and 1st was over 100lbs all caught on the same day and hit thescales within 5 minutes of each other. I drank 2 bottles of water during the fight and when that fish hit the deck I did too. :hotsun


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## Capt. Delynn (Oct 4, 2007)

My two biggest were 116 lbs and 102.7 lbs. Also got a 92.5 and98 lb jack two years ago. I love those big jacks. Have pictures but not sure how to post them. Let me see what I can come up with.


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## ScullsMcNasty (Oct 4, 2007)

> *Tuna Man (4/18/2009)*Jim, Nice AJ...I remember a guy by that name...Haven't seen it around in sometime.
> 
> <TABLE class=bbstable cellSpacing=1 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=messagecellbody>1740</TD><TD class=messagecellbody>elmiril</TD><TD class=messagecellbody noWrap>Blue Marlin</TD><TD class=messagecellbody noWrap></TD><TD class=messagecellbody noWrap>4143</TD><TD class=messagecellbody noWrap>4/27/2004</TD><TD class=messagecellbody noWrap>10/31/2008</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>





> *WW2 (6/26/2008)*Elmiril = WW2
> 
> Wayne...Wienhoff....WW
> 
> ...


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## jimmyjams4110 (Oct 20, 2007)

98.2 gutted








92.6 gutted

Back in my charter boat days.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

I caught a 70lber back in january on a 14 oz. tormentor jig. I'll try to post a pic later.


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## Captain Woody Woods (Oct 2, 2007)

> *jim t (4/18/2009)*
> 
> Ron,
> 
> ...




im pretty sure he died like 2 years ago?


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## Ocean Man (Sep 27, 2007)

I caught one about 45lbs which was my biggest that was topped a couple hours later on the same trip by Karon with a 62lber


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

I hate to say it but I think Woody is right on this one. I think I remember a thread about this a little over a year or so ago.


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## FishingAddict (Jan 20, 2008)

Got this guy jigging. Didn't have anything to weigh it with.


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## chasintales (Sep 29, 2007)

My biggest was out of Venice. 85 LBS. The pictures are on the home computer. I will try to add them later.

Chris


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## ScullsMcNasty (Oct 4, 2007)

here is a post aboutElmiril, entitled "WHERE IS ELMIRL??????" thats where i got my last post about him being WW2

http://pensacolafishingforum.com/fishingforum/Topic134816-2-1.aspx?Highlight=elmiril


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## jim t (Sep 30, 2007)

> *ScullsMcNasty (4/21/2009)*here is a post aboutElmiril, entitled "WHERE IS ELMIRL??????" thats where i got my last post about him being WW2
> 
> http://pensacolafishingforum.com/fishingforum/Topic134816-2-1.aspx?Highlight=elmiril[/quote]
> 
> ...


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## CHICO (Oct 2, 2007)

CHALJO, that is me in the pic and that AJ did go 104 pounds. Took me 15-20 min on a 4/0 to get him in. That fish was a bastard and not sure ifI want to catch many more of that size. He was caught ona live b-liner. I assume you got the pic from one of my pipe valve and fitting buddies.


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## cant-wait-til-next-time (Feb 2, 2009)

We caught these 1/31/09 at the Marathon Jacket trolling stretch 30s. 55, 50 and 35 lbs


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## reelthrill (Oct 3, 2007)

I caught one well over 100lbs on a live dolphin. We could not put it in the ice chest so we cut it in half. We came in at midnight so did not bother to weigh it. A buddy of mine went to the same area the following day and caught one 114lbs. The fish was caught on the edge about 23 years ago. I have a picture somewhere but would have to scan it. (Not sure how to do that)


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## Fairwaterfishing (Mar 17, 2009)

The Summer Breeze II caught a 109 and a 107 last weekend.


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## seanmclemore (Aug 20, 2008)

well this took long enough for me to post. my scanner crapped out on me so i took a picture of a picture. 92 pounds at the tennaco year before last with the spear. i think next time i'll just go to the rodeo and ride a bronco


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## rauber (Oct 10, 2007)

didnt weight this one... any guess? got him near mp 255 with a butterfly jig


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## Wade Schepper (Mar 11, 2009)

well i started this post well over a year ago and finally caught one over 50 lbs. caught this guy about a week ago, 5-23-10 and he was 72 lbs.


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## WW2 (Sep 28, 2007)

hahaha, I never saw this thread until now. Too funny. I had taken a bit of time off from the forum when this thread was going around. 


Jim, 
That was me on that trip and it was wadefisher that caught the 70 pounder. I caught the 30 pounder that day it was was dwarfed by that donkey that wadefisher caught. I really wish we had been able to catch that Mako. I am pretty sure it would have been bigger than the AJ. lol


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