# Edge Saturday



## FishingWeather (Sep 26, 2008)

Went out of Destin pass before the butt-crack of dawn. 0430 to be exact. Scooted over to a dock to pick up our bait from a trap we set out at midnight but it was gone. Dang the luck. So... continued out to deep water with a bunch of frozen ballyhoos, cigar minnows, and some squid. We're scooting right along in a 24' Robalo with a quiet and purring 350 (nice motor) and set up the outriggers and some other lines with ballys and lures. We no sooner got all the lines set when BANG!, 5 minutes or less and we got a real nice hooter. Since it was the first knockdown Joe (the youngster) gets it. He fought it well and, like a seasoned vet, brought it up for a clean gaff. More on this later.

The next five hours were dead. Trolling netted nothing so we tried the holes and reefs. Could not believe all the Cudas. We must have pulled over a dozen fish of the bottom only to lose them to a cuda. They were all over the place, especially over the reefs. 

Next plan was to hit some holes without structures and this is where it got fun. We did well here. Pulled in a bunch of AJs, mingos, grouper, even a king mack and last, but not least...A 6ft bull shark.

This bull was caught on a 20lb spinning reel and I'm talking a monofilament leader with a little butterfly jig. Unbelievable. Josh fought this thing for about 20 minutes and finally gets him to the boat and we're all just looking at each other trying to figure out what we're gonna do. Josh had the idea of taking it into Destin for the Shark Saturday weigh in. OK, so we're gonna keep it. Now what? Well, let's gaff it and lasso its tail. Good idea because that mono lead will not hold up. The butterfly jig is hooked into his mouth real good but hell, I think even I could chew through it given enough time. Back to the gaff... We gaff it and it goes apeshlt. Thrashes like its having a seizure and yanks the little spinner out of Josh's hands. Well, Josh is young, but he did four years in the USMC. No dang shark is taking of with his bought and paid for possessions. Josh did what we'd all like to believe we'd do...He dove right in after it. I'm the old guy and the only thing on my mind is getting his a55 out of the water because hey, there's sharks in there. Josh grabs his fishing rod and turns back to the boat. I've got eye contact with the bull and Josh is swimming to the stern. I start to move back there as well but still have my eye on the shark and I notice something else in the water. Another shark that's probably about 8'. I guess the hooked shark felt he needed his big brother. We eventually get Josh out of the water and he still has his rod and reel but the shark is still attached to it and, at this point, Josh is determined that the shark is going to Destin. We ended up making a lasso and threading the rod through it and letting it drop over the shark's head and worked it back towards the tail before we tightened it up and, for good measure, tied another rope around its midsection. So, we're all set for Destin when we realize we have to gut the big guy. We dragged him backwards for about 5 miles when we thought he was probably ready to slice. We were wrong. He didn't go down easy. It was a wrestling match to the end. We eventually cleaned him out and left him off the side just for good measure. A few miles later we decide we can stick him in the box to keep him cool. I gaffed him in the mouth while Josh lifted him by the lasso around his tail and we drop him into the boat. As soon as he hit the deck he starts thrashing again and he's coming at me (probably because I stuck the gaff in him again). This dang thing has no intestines, no heart, nothing in him at all except for his two penis and he's chomping on the gaff moving up it and toward me so I try and push him away with the gaff but there's nothing to stop it. The gaff gets shoved literally through the whole shark and I run like a girl around the boat to get behind this mess. Well this is long enough. We finally jammed him into the box and, on his way in, he thrashes one more time and whacks Josh in the jewels. Parting shot

Destin fishing results...Wahoo 1st place overall. AJ first place 25' and under. Shark.....2nd place. Great time was had.


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## DoubleD (Oct 2, 2007)

Great report!


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

not too shabby.


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## Deeplines (Sep 28, 2007)

Great read. I love reading what happened on the trip as much as looking at the pictures. 

Thank you very much for the report and congrats on the placement in the tourney.


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## HaterAide (Nov 9, 2007)

Purty good story there


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## User6882 (Feb 4, 2009)

hope the jewels are doing fine now :boo


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## Ocean Man (Sep 27, 2007)

Great write up, thanks for sharing and congrats on the tourny wins.


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## FY05CPO (Jun 9, 2009)

Sweeeeeeeeet


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## fmitchell (Oct 19, 2007)

Thanks for the entertainment. That's one big Aj - bet he fought almost as well as the jaws. Main thing is - you guys had a blast - and returned safely. Sweet!


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## ReelDuel (Oct 4, 2007)

nice sounds like a great day for one of the USMC


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## cincynick (Sep 17, 2009)

One heck of a day


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## Corpsman (Oct 3, 2007)

Dude... That was a GREAT story. Thanks!


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## wetfeet (Feb 6, 2008)

thats funny , would have liked to see the video of bringing it in the boat


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## FishingWeather (Sep 26, 2008)

I'm torn between wanting to see the video for a great laugh and thanking the good Lord that no video exists for other people's laughs. I'm betting on having no video is the lesser of the two humiliating versions.:doh


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## Eastern Tackle (Jul 6, 2009)

Sounds touch and go there for a minute. Glad everything turned out well. Nice jack.


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## seanmclemore (Aug 20, 2008)

those friggin bulls are everywhere right now. every wreck the dive boys have been on is covered up with them. glad you guys managed to keep one from reproducing in the GOM.

:bowdown

cheers to a great job on the tourney


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## BILL_MONEY (Feb 17, 2009)

if you lived closer ... next time you decide on crazy adventure i could loan you a flyin gaff..... i saves the damage to the boat and the jewels...... we fish in some small boats and even boating a big tuna is dasngerous when you have no where to run to........


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## FishingWeather (Sep 26, 2008)

Thanks Rusty,

I think from now on we'll just ensure we have either a bang-stick or a side-arm. I'm very interested in the flying gaff though. I know I'm not interested in running away from a shark longer than two feet on a small boat. Even out of the water these guys are still higher on the food chain. And being dead doesn't seem to matter much to them either.


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