We woke up this morning to rain but it cleared by around 0830. The owner and I went to the Key West Bait and Tackle shop and spent about $600 on tackle. They lost the other tackle box to Poseidon a few weeks ago. Now we were ready to catch a whale. We cleared the dock with the big boat at about 0945 and headed out. One of the owners guests and I worked hard to get the tackle box put together and got a few rigs ready to go. We hit the reefs and idled out to the shelf where we were told that the fishing was good. We put a line in the water and it wasn't two minutes before we had a huge hit. FISH ON!!!! The owners guest was up first and we put him on the stairs which was the best fighting chair we had as there was a wall directly in front of him to put his feet on. He fought for about 30 minutes before we finally saw the fish. It was a hard fight. I got the gaff hook out and we landed our first fish. It was a 20-30 lb. Greater Amber Jack!!! Pictures below. How awesome!! We got the lines right back in the water. It was fairly rough outside of the reef but we managed. About a half an hour later another hit. I landed a small Mahi Mahi but as we brought it up on to the boat he got free and we let him flop back in to the water. Some time went by before we got another hit. I was holding a smaller reel in my hand with an artificial wahoo rig at the other end. Suddenly a fish jumped three feet out of the water and I did the same from my chair. No dice though as the fish missed the lure. Five more minutes and the pole just about got ripped out of my hand. FISH ON!! I set the hook and started reeling. I only got a few cranks in before I lost the fish. No sooner than losing the fish I looked over and saw our heavy rig rod and reel bend into a U-shape. FISH ON!!! The same fish that hit our artificial lure twice had now finally grabbed hard on to our ballyhoo rig. I got to the stairs and starting cranking. It didn't fight hard until it saw the boat and then it took off. I just about got pulled out of the boat... no joke. The huge tackle we were using bent over like a twig. The last few minutes were the hardest I have ever fought a fish. I landed a great King Mackerel and boy did he have some teeth!!!
Some time passed by before our next hit. It was my turn to drive and all of the sudden I heard the cry from the aft deck...FISH ON!!! I pulled back in to neutral and ran back to watch. As the owner was fighting the other rod hit...FISH ON!!! I ran back to adjust the heading of the boat and got back to the aft deck. The owner was fighting a shark! Not only was the owner fighting a shark but the other rod had a shark on as well. The best part about it was that it was the same shark. The shark hit the first line and as we pulled it by it hit the second line. Crazy! I didn't want to kill the shark knowing that we wouldn't keep it so I called off the hook and said that I would take my chances getting the hooks out. I put the gloves on and jumped on to the shark, trying to pin him down fast. Don't worry mom it was only about 2-3 feet long. (razor sharp teeth though...raaarrrrrr) I finally got two hands on the shark and honestly it was the strongest thing pound for pound that I have ever fought with. With all of my weight and might I could barely hold the shark down on the deck. The owner grabbed the long nosed pliers and managed to get all three hooks that he swallowed out. We let him go.
What an amazing day we were having. I knew the weather might turn and I kept an eye to the sky. A strong line of approaching storms had me raising attention to the owner and we brought our lines in and headed for shore. We got in, got the lines set and started washing the boat. In a matter of 30 seconds the skies went black the wind picked up and it started to rain, and rain it did. We couldn't see the dock across the fairway it was raining so hard. We clocked 35 knot winds and some thunder and lightning. Thank God we kept an eye to the sky!
The guys across the dock from us are fishermen and helped filet up our Mackerel and Jack. He is a great guy and it was good to make conversation with a knowledgable person. I think we are going to go out tomorrow. Calm seas, high of 77 and SSW winds 5 knots....woooo!!
As the rain continues we just put in The Perfect Storm...a little respect.
Here are some pictures:
One of the owners friends and his Greater Amber Jack!
My King Mackerel back at the dock during the rain. What a fight!!
The owners guest fighting his Greater Amber Jack on the fightin' stairs
Sound Waves Out!!
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