# Gulf Shores 7/15/16



## watergator (Apr 5, 2016)

I'll start by saying that if you want nonstop King and Spanish action, get out there right now. 

Got out this morning just as the sun was coming up. It was a beautiful day with east winds that shifted to north making for a really smooth gulf. It took me a bit to make bait but I ended up with a half dozen cigar minnows and decided to start trolling. Less than 5 min later I got a hit on a live cigar with a red/white duster. I fought what acted like a Spanish for a few minutes before pulling the hook. Rerigged and almost immediately got nailed by another Spanish. Over the next hour I had a few more hits that came off and then I was out of live bait. I put out frozen cigs on the red/white duster and the naked rig and started trolling again. Almost immediately I got a hit on the red/white duster and got my first king from a kayak. 

After that I had a little lull in the action until right at 8:00 the red/white duster goes off again, this time it was screaming. As soon as I grabbed the rod the hook popped out, but before I could reel that one in, the naked cigsicle starts screaming. I can only assume that this was the same fish because the strikes happened so fast. The line was flying off my reel and I knew I was getting low so I started tightening the drag. Next thing I know I can see the bottom of my spool so I clamped my thumb down in a last ditch effort to turn him. I didn't turn her, but I did get the kayak turned just in time so that she was pulling me head on and then the sleigh ride was on. I was able to gain line back by pulling the kayak to her since I know I didn't move her at all. After about 15 min I had the biggest king I have ever personally seen next to the boat and realized I had no idea what to do with it. I continued to let her pull the kayak to further tire her out while I contemplated my situation. After a few failed attempts at tailing her I decided to just grab the gills. She was pretty beat at this point so there wasn't much more fight as I pulled the head up and cut her throat to bleed her out. 

The rest is pretty basic I stuck the front 3/4 in my fish bag and covered the tail with a towel and headed for shore. I guess now I need to make a spear-gaff and probably buy a bigger fish bag. 

I went to two bait shops here and neither had a scale, but she measured at exactly 48" to the fork. 

Here's some pictures and one for the foot thread (still don't really know what that's about) 











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## bdyboarder86 (Apr 25, 2013)

Nice fish!! I went out from ft pickens yesterday and nothing but one short king


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## jonscott8 (Jan 18, 2015)

Damn that's a monster. Hell of a catch, congrats.

Idk but I think on the water yakers get a foot thread pass but on land, youre fair game.

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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Nice fish! Next time, bring to our shop on Canal Rd (Sam's). I can weigh them for you. It's more fun without the actual though isn't it?


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## watergator (Apr 5, 2016)

Thanks guys. I am definitely happy with it and I don't see myself beating it anytime soon. 

Chris, I thought about calling y'all to see if you had a scale, but I was driving around with 1/4 of the fish out of the bag so I kinda wanted to get it cut up before it got too hot. It is fun speculating with my friends but Id be interested to hear some guesses from people who have seen other big ones. 


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## andrewsa43 (Mar 1, 2015)

You can Google a growth chart and get a pretty close estimate of weight. If it were my story it would be a 50+lb fish 😉


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## Night Wing (May 16, 2011)

Nice report and your photos are great.

Thanks for sharing.


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## lake13 (Jan 22, 2013)

Great Job!

One More Cast


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## macko2000 (Sep 22, 2015)

Got dayum, that's bigger then my 7yr old. 

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## timjb83 (Jan 23, 2013)

That's a stud brother! Great job my man.. Thanks for the report and pics.. I bet that was a blast.. 

What setup were you using?


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## stauty trout (Jul 19, 2012)

Nice Catch!

I'd say 30-35# based on the length


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## Jgatorman (Jun 8, 2013)

Great catch...gotta love it when the reel sings, music to my ears!


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## watergator (Apr 5, 2016)

Thanks for the love on the fish guys. I caught him on a penn senator 114H that has 60lb mono on it. 


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## Jgatorman (Jun 8, 2013)

I use 300yds of 20lb braid on a 4500 series penn spinners. You do not need a winch when kayak fishing. Lighter gear is so much fun. I have caught bobos on a 2500 series!


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## watergator (Apr 5, 2016)

Yea, I know it's overkill for the kayak but I'm relatively new to the BTB fishing and its what I have for now. It's kind of my do-all heavy rod and rigged that way it works for a lot of applications. If she had stayed buttoned on the other rod that is a 25lb class spinner and would have been more sporty as you're saying. 


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