NO Belt...NO Harness...NO BRAINS

[Capt Bob]

You'd think I'd have learned by now....NOOOO not me!!

I haven't been playing in the canal across the street as I've been going through boxes and stuff and working on the move up to the place I bought on Grassy Key..

So my neighbor who's house is on the canal tells me there are Tarpon rolling ...so I grab a heavy tarpon rod and a tarpon size spinner...he caught some Yellowtail early in the day and had the carcasses so I used one for bait..out under a float on 50 lb Power pro and a 10/0 snelled on 100 lb flouro


while I'm casting my Bucktail combo ( 1/4 oz Striper Bucktail w/ a 8 inch white twister, makes great slow working or rippin bait down here) the float starts "drifting seaward" my neighbor says "...your bait is being chased it's swimming away from some thing" then I remind him "it's a carcass!" so I tighten up and am hooked up for about 10 seconds to an unseen fish.
I pull it in and find the hook had gotten turned into the head and hadn't bit .

so I put a fresh head on it and toss it back out...about that time about 6 Tarpon come swimming by the wall in about 18 inches of water and as I reach for my spinner I look down and see a BIG Goliath about 2 ft behind the last Tarpon. When I move the Goliath sees me and in a HUGE swirl of mud takes of for deeper water ( about 6ft deep)

so I start casting the bucktail in hopes of a nice Silver King, now my float disappears, I'm thinking that a Tarpon has the bait as it was in direct line with their swim path.


I reel down and rear back in my best "cross the Tarpons eyes hook set" and the rod does a 270 towards the water and the uncovered gimbal digs into my gut...first thought...that's gonna leave a mark and did it ever, except that it's in a region that Brandon wouldn't approve of having posted I'd take a picture and post this "wound"...72 minutes later and about 50 yards of dancing up and down the seawall keeping the fish away from boat lifts and docks and all the while feeling him rub his face on everything imagineable on the bottom he is starting to come my way...still haven't seen it, and there are 3 boats sitting waiting to come into the canal and see what I've hooked up to, It's now dark and the skeeters have arrived...in force... my neighbor hobbles ( he's the nice older guy who broke 13 bones in his foot and ankle when he fell off his boat lift) over to my patio and grabs the long gaff and brings it back...it's now 90 minutes + and I have it in about 2 ft of water right by my neighbors fish cleaning table...my neighbor is going to gaff what ever it is until he turns the light on that shines in the water and there sits a GOLIATH ABOUT 4 FT LONG and about 4FT around with my hook firmly in his upper jaw...Now Goliaths are protected and can't be legally killed, so my neighbor looks at me and says I'm not gaffing that sucker he'll yank me right off the dock ( my neighbor has a tough enough time walking, much less walking and hanging onto this critter) so I loosen the drag and hand him the rod and I catch a stroke of luck, probably because of the halogen shining in the water, he doesn't see the gaff coming, so I slip it in his lower jaw...did I say luck????...WRONG he went ballistic!!! with me attached, at the end of a six foot long aluminum pole!!

I had to lay on my stomach to get the gaff in and now i'm in NO POSITION to put any pressure on this beast...after giving me a good thrashing he slid over my neighbor hands me a stanly tape measure and it looks like the critter is 47 inches long...I get the hook out and slipped the gaff free...he slid back about 2 ft and turned and with ONE swipe of his tail took off like he had just taken a stroll thru his under water garden
I am one bruised, tired, scraped, cut and insect bitten individual...next time I even THINK I'm gonna put a big bait out I WILL have a belt and a Harness with me!!!

I may be getting older...but I do learn!!!! sometimes the hard way...but I do learn!!!

Now I'm going to take a VERY LONG...VERY WARM SHOWER... a couple of Vicadin and maybe a Skelaxin or two...and pray I can still move in the morning!

[L HOLMES]

Man thats a hell of a story! Sounds like some good fishing down there Bob. Did you all hook any of the tarpon?

[Capt Bob]

No that big ol hoss took the bait and I was WAY too busy just staying on dry land ...they pull boats around like foam corks ...most who target them regularly use a plate with a rod holder welded in it mounted onto a pedestal on the bow of the boat...if I had hooked him in more open water I'd have never held him on thet light outfit ( light for Goliaths that is) he'd have just swam, all over the ocean. being in the canal he didn't have a lot of running room, unless he had decided to go seaward, instead of slugging it out on the bottom grouper style, then it would have been a one sided battle with him stompin all over me...( he did a pretty good job of that as it was) If all goes as planned I'll take a shot at the tarpon again in a few days and I will bring a belt and my light weight harness ( it's made by Anglers Choice costs about $20 and it really takes a load off the back muscles) its just too warm to pull out the tuna belt and harness

They had a fishing show on last week or so and these guys up on the panhandle went Goliath fishing They broke like 6 rods and then changed over to hand lines...HANDLINES...huge circle hooks about the size of your outstretched hand with a big old fish head as bait, about 10 feet of 500 lb. mono tied to about 100 ft of 1/2 in braided nylon rope with a heavy duty rubber bungie for shock absorbtion ( the rope was tied to a cleat!!!...one very healthy guy let a Goliath thrash around at the boat while he was holding it by the lower jaw...they showed his hands X rays at the end of the show...with all the different broken bones...

[redcat]

Great story Capt.Bob
It reminds me of the country song about the guy with 6 brke ribs and front teeth knocked out but he's a winner!!!

[Capt Bob]

I know what ya mean, I weigh 280 and work out almost daily to keep the muscles tight and that beast just plain whoooped up on me!!!

[kellerl2]

Capt. Bob THANKS for a great post, laughted my butt off... Larry

[Capt Bob]

I went to Vegas for a week a few days after the "experience" and took advantage of the nice pool at the Casino ( no damn Bull Sharks In their Water). The bruise ( about the size of a football) from the rod butt showed about an inch and a half above the waist on my swim trunks and a lady about 30 asked "is that a bruise?,( why a 30 yr old is looking at a 57 yr old guy is beyond me) I said yes it is, she said "my Gawd, what causes a bruise like that"...I told her a fish...she asked what kind? I told her and she googled it on her lap top and just dropped her jaw as she watched some video of a guy doing battle with a big Goliath using huge Penn Senator reels and 1/8 in aircraft cable for line!

I told her mine was a little one...only about 4 ft long....some poor people just live sheltered lives and miss so much of the world around them...and this guy will be very content to be "sheltered" from and miss another Goliath for a while

[freeflow_23]

Excellent story. Would have loved to have witnessed that. Good luck with the big baits! :D

[StepChild]

Great read!!! One hell of a FISH!!! :bigfish:

[ratherfish]

Aint Florida GREAT!

:clapping2:

[drdetroit]

Keep em coming Bob. Great storys. Caught my first Blue Marlin ever, on a sailboat no less. I've been told it was a good read on the Mid-atlantic forum but your explanations are the best!

[Capt Bob]

I'm happy you enjoy reading my posts.
As a young person in high school I, due to family situations, was able to spend most of my summers staying with an Aunt. Now that may not sound like too much fun, but when you realize that my Uncle ( who worked road construction and was away most of the year) had bought land in western New jersey. Still doesn't sound too exciting. However, the land bordered on a stream called the Paulins kill, the upper parts were great trout fishing, the lower offered a reservoir and spill way fishing...and...if that's not enough across the highway was the Deleware River, just full of feisty Smallmouths,,,scrounge up some Hellgramites and it was instant leaping cartwheeling action, wading, drifting or just walking the banks was pure heaven as it was within sight of the Deleware Water Gap and the mountains surrounding it...I also could hunt to my hearts content on the property and in later years when my uncle was retired and wanted to hunt I would happily take him hunting on his land...now the cool part...a older gentleman who used to come to the area where the water flowed over the dam to fish, for the huge carp that swam there, to feed his collection of cats, would often ask me to accompany him on his trips around the area to fish...but the best part was , he was a retired English professor, and he and I would sit at night and play word games, think of 6 words that look like what they mean and think of 6 words that sound like what they are...it's not as easy as it sounds, but he literally gave me the magic of our language...words properly used and inflected can literally give a life to the words themselves...in todays world where texting and e mails cause us to use brevity "because we are so busy" or to make up words because we lack the simple initiative to do it right and communicate properly...words can indeed be magical if we make the effort, I try to honor that mans memory by giving alittle more than, I went here, caught that, released that etc.

Todays youth with video games ( what is so damn special about Halo 3 that it required its own tv special when it went on sale) and computers, and calculators ( how many can divide, multiply or add and subtract in their head w/o a calculator) have lost the magic of being out in the world, the days of "go play and be in when the street light comes on" are long gone and the mind expanding experiences that come with them are lost as well.

Street stick ball, and learning to be honest and fair when you called time out to let a car pass, no one ever even considered cheating these were your friends and neighbors...honor was important...

So if my posts are a bit more than went here, did that, etc...
It's just my way of honoring the legacy that Mr. Purdy, the retired English Professor, who showed me the magic...


and for anyone who really might give a ......

here is all the knowledge in the world.A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

all you need do is place them in proper sequence and the knowledge...along with the magic will be yours...

[drdetroit]

Bob, I had a similar story growing up in Detroit. Hope you enjoy the read I sent out to friends:


Lately, I have enjoyed a friends writings of motivation so here was one of mine in return to him as well as some of my fishing friends:

Isle De Culebra, Puerto Rico
9-21-07

Day 3 of the trip started off with high fishing anticipation for fishing the famous North Drop of the Puerto Rican trench. It runs off the coast of this small PR island which is located half way between the PR mainland and St. Thomas, USVI. I am on board with good friend Jimmy K, his first offshore fishing adventure, but no stranger to fishing with me. It took 2 days of planes-trains-automobiles-small boats and large ferry rides to get here, but we finally made it.

Jimmy, a little hung over from the Russian Vodka that Edgar had sent along with us, was riding in the sun side of the sail boat, while the Captain and I were pouring over the chart to determine the next tack.

I digress here a moment to explain the situation. Our goal was to run a boat from the PR mainland over to the small island and do our own fishing. The boat our good friend Edgar had set up for us was located in the small town of Salinas on the South side of the mainland. Edgar entrusted me with running the boat, using my license skills to navigate the way. Jimmy was the head engineer if we ran into mechanical problems. Long story short, 45 miles in, we started having engine problems and were only able to go another 20 miles. We could see Culebra and even St. Thomas, but we fell short of making the ocean crossing to reach the small island. Edgar took care of things with the boat and sent us across on the ferry so we didn’t waste any more vacation time getting greasy. Took care of things he did too! We were picked up at the dock and shuttled to his hotel where a hot dinner awaited us. Grilled Cobia, fresh from the ocean that day. Had to follow up the meal with the smooth Russian Vodka Edgar had acquired on his last trip to Russia that he sent along with us. One dinner shot was followed with another, then another, and another …… and it should now be understood why Jimmy was running low tide this morning, have Mr. Sunshine bake-out the booze.

Back to the story, the boat we were on was a sail boat, rigged also for fishing. :boat: Edgar had told me about it and I was skeptical, but figured what the heck, lets give it a try anyway. The mate, a local, the Captain, myself and Jimmy. By this time, noon, the mate was asleep, Jimmy was enjoying the sun and as I said the Capt and I were strategizing our next tacking course when the Penn 80 starts screaming line off the real. :bigfish: We look up and grab the rod. The hook gets set and and I shout for Jimmy to come get the rod. My thought was always to give the first big fish, whatever species, to him since it was his first offshore trip. What a great accomplishment on his first trip it would have been. Salmon fishing in Lake MI to offshore in the Caribean. We knew it was big since it had already stripped a third of the line from the reel before we were set in the fighting station.

Insert my definition of a friend here:

Someone who has never been fishing offshore before,
sees line come tight,
Drag screaming on 80 lbs class monofilament,
gets the call from me to come grab the rod,
dream fish of a life at the other end,
and says
“You keep it buddy—this ones all you”

As many of you know, I have been onboard many trips with caught billfish, and always pushed the rod into someone else’s hands once hooked up. I have always felt like those fish caught were as much mine as the angler, because fights like these are team efforts anyway. Being part of the team was always good enough for me. I hope Jimmy feels that way now too!

I think I like fishing so much, because it is much like hunting, you trying to outsmart the game.

However, now is where big game hunting and fishing diverge. No gun or arrow to do your business now! I get strapped in, and the fight is on! She tailwalks and greyhounds away from us, stripping another couple hundred yards of line from us and just like that, more than half the spool of line is gone. For one hour and 16 minutes, I am fighting a beast in a game of tug of war. I take in 100 yards and she takes back 75, I get 50 and she takes it back. She charges the boat and I am right there spooling the line tight. Every 10 minutes, I am spent from the heat and battle, but ice cold water is given to me and splashed down my back and I can feel it work almost immediately. I am winning this battle. We get her close and decide to take her if given the chance. It’s my first and the Captain and Mate assure me nothing will go to waste on this meal.

I remind you now that we are on a sailboat. The fish is still lit up with color and is pretty green. On a power boat, its easier to keep the pressure on and keep the line and fish where you want it. On a sail boat with nothing but a 10 hp outboard, we are at a serious disadvantage in this fight. One wrong move and a cut across the rear rudders and its over. However, the captain and mate do some fancy boat work to keep her in the right location.

The dangerous part begins as we try to gaff the monster. Jimmy throws the camera down and the team descends on the rear corner with the gaffs. One flying gaff in and I take the rod out of the harness and jump into the fray. The mate is astounded and has never been part of a big fish capture like this. He stays on the rudder controls. Jimmy sets the second gaff while I get a third. Fight is over now.

We rig up the tail and drag her onboard. 1:30pm and we are spent. It is then that I look at the boat. The disheveled mess of dropped sails, thrown fishing rods and flying gaff handles, bait line, hooks and teasers…..what a mess! Again, I am reminded of what a team sport this can be! Disbelief and relief set-in!

We cleaned up, reset the spread and cut a slab of meat off. Captain cooks it up and we eat like “kings of the sea” for lunch. Utter satisfaction on my face!

We went on for more fish that day and the next when Edgar joined us: Wahoo, Mahi, Big Eye tuna and Cuda. Passed them all on to my good friends.

I decided to keep the fish since it was my first, but I don’t think I would kill any more in the future. We fed half the town with it so nothing went to waste, but these creatures are marvels of the ocean. Grace, beauty and power like nothing I have experienced with hunting Whitetails, Moose or Caribou. I think I will release any billfish I catch in the future, to allow them to grow and give others the experience.

Edgars hospitality and his hotels service were top notch. The head chef set us up with our fresh catch each day and food was 5 star!

Thanks to Johnny Sfor all the lessons in Virginia, Carolina and Florida. They played a key role in our catch.

Thanks again to Jimmy for passing on my dream fish!

Isle De Culebra, Puerto Rico
Bahia Marina Hotel and Resort

Anyone interested, let me know and I will hook you up with Edgar.