Tight Lines!
-Dave
Full Version: Report... Kings at the J, Saturday
Saturday, 5/11, turned out to be as beautiful a day as had been forecasted. The seas laid down as the day went on and the water was as clear as I have seen in a long time. (Should have taken the scuba gear). I had heard several reports of sailfish in close over the last week, including one caught at the J Buoy on Saturday, 5/4. (Can anyone confirm this? ) I have also heard reports of other sailfish sighted much closer in. I caught one two years ago in less that 50 feet of water, but that was in July, not May. In any event, we ran out to the J on Saturday morning from Coffee Bluff but all we could catch were kingfish. The one pictured below went just over 30 lbs. It looks like the offshore action is just going to get better and better.
Tight Lines!
-Dave
Tight Lines!
-Dave
Great fish! Also, my compliments to the gaff man....perfect shot!
Sorry...double post
Dave
I have to second (maybe third) Brad. That is a great fish! I need to follow you around for a day or two.
GD
I have to second (maybe third) Brad. That is a great fish! I need to follow you around for a day or two.
GD
What do you mean "all we could catch is kingfish"? Did you catch them on dead bait or live bait. I sure would love to have a fish in the box like that by 8:00 am on Sat. Thanks for the report.
Ken N.
Ken N.
SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stan
Sorry... I didn't mean to belittle the kingfish. There's a story here though and my "all we could catch was kingfish" comment makes more sense if you know the whole story. It's been a few years, and I guess it's time to get this story written down somewhere, so here goes:
I fish out of Coffee Bluff Marina. There's a neighbor near there who worked at the marina from the time he was 13 or 14 right on through high school until he pursued greener pastures. His name is Mike and he's a super nice guy and most of us who live in the neighborhood or who have used that marina over the years have "watched him grow up", if you'll pardon the expression. As you might suspect, growing up on the river, he's a helluva fisherman, as well.
So a few years ago, I was fortunate enough to get a really nice offshore center console boat, twin engines.. the whole "dream boat" deal for me. One afternoon, after a fishing trip, Mike (who is now all grown up and a good friend), shows up at the dock as I am pulling in with my new boat and immediately starts helping me wash her down, stow the tackle, etc., etc.
It's important to note that he no longer works at the marina and hasn't for years. He's just that kind of guy. In any event, after we're all done with the boat, he mentions that he has never been offshore in his life and that he "sure would like to go sometime". I was more than a little surprised to hear this. I mean, he grew up right there on the river.
I offered to take him along the next morning and warned him not to be late. He was excited about the whole deal and promised that he'd be there at the designated 5:30 am departure time. He must have gone home and gotten ready and come back and slept on the boat. I arrived at 5:00 am and he was already there. To make matters worse, the other guy never showed up at all, and after my warning to Mike about "don't be late", I had no choice but to leave the other guy. So, it was just Mike and I heading out for his first offshore trip in his life... and probably my third trip on the new boat.
Be sure you have the picture here.... He's an excellent trout fisherman having fished all of his life in the river, usually in various jon boats with some type of small outboard, but he's certainly not above using a paddle. I think he was 19 or 20 years old at the time. It's 6:00 in the morning, the sun is barely up, and we're on a fancy brand new boat. Oh, it's July, the seas are slick, and we have twin 200 hp Yamahas hanging on the transom, and I'm saying something about "the Snapper Banks" and "60 miles offshore". With me so far?
So we run.. FAST... to the "L" Buoy where I want to stop and catch bait for the trip on out to the Snapper Banks. Mike's excellent with a cast net, so I ask him to get up in the bow as I approach a pod of bait that is tearing up the surface. It's so slick out that you can see every thing that moves. In fact, it's so slick that I have that uneasy feeling in my stomach that it's TOO slick and nothing is going to be biting at all. But I don't tell him that. I just ask him to get the cast net and head to the bow of the boat, which he does.
I'm idling up to the bait pod when .. WHAM!.. something huge slashes through the bait. Mike looks back at me and says "What was that ?!?!"
"I dunno", I said as I reversed the engines and backed away from the bait, " but don't throw that net. Lets slip a bait out and troll around that pod and see what happens". I'm thinking BIG kingfish, right?
I quickly rigged a single rod with a still frozen horse ballyhoo beneath a green sea witch and let it out about 50 yards behind the boat. While I'm rigging up, I can see that Mike is looking at this wire and frozen dead fish (which was about the size of some of the trout we catch inshore) and silly green feather contraption that I am rigging up, and he's too good a kid to say what I can clearly see on his face, which is "Nothing in the world is going to bite that"... but he stays quiet as it disappears into the depths behind the boat. I check the drag and put the rod into the rear rod holder and tell him to be ready. Meanwhile, that BIG king is still busting the bait and I'm getting really excited.
We dragged the bait as close to the school of baitfish as I dared, and nothing happened. I started to make a big turn to come back around for a second pass. But before we got even halfway through the turn, YEEEEEE!!!! The drag started screaming.. I don't know who it scared more, me or Mike.
"Grab the rod," I yelled. "Set the hook!"
Mike snatched the rod up and started pumping in an attempt to set the hook. But it was slack. Nothing there at all. I couldn't believe it. I mean, this fish had hit hard and I use a strange double hook rig like nothing you have ever seen when I fish with ballyhoo and it never misses. To this day, I have no idea why I did it, but I stopped the boat, reached over his shoulder, and put the reel into free spool. I don't think I have ever done that, but for some reason, I did it. A few seconds went by, and suddenly line started peeling off the reel again. Mike instinctively engaged the reel and the drag started screaming again. Now we were hooked up! I'm thinking, "Alright! A big king and I haven't even finished my coffee!"
That's when, directly behind the boat, the bill came out of the water. It was like it happened in slow motion. It was a bill... long, slender, and it just came straight up. And it just kept coming. Then, as the rest of the fish broke through the surface, the big dorsal fin opened up into a sail, and the fish "tailwalked" across our wake on that slick water. Then it hit the water again and took off. The drag screamed again. I could not believe what I had just seen.
Mike turned around wide eyed, holding the rod which at this point was nearly doubled over, and looked at me and said, "What the heck is that ?!? "
I had NEVER caught a billfish and I didn't want him to get too excited. I figured one of us had better remain calm, and I knew it wasn't going to be me, so I faked it and said, "Oh... it's just a sailfish. How about you move to the front of the boat and we'll chase him down before that reel runs out of line? Just tell me which way he goes."
The next 45 minutes I'll never forget. That sailfish jumped at least 30 times. Every time the fish would jump, Mike would lean into it and as it hit the water, he'd lean back. He looked like he'd been fishing offshore all of his life. I, on the other hand, kept yelling something about 20lb test on the reel and not to touch the drag. He'd point in the direction of the fish's latest run, and I'd steer that way. Then the fish would come up again, tailwalking, sometimes in a completely different direction than we were heading. This went on and on. I just knew we would lose that fish. I think I told Mike not to be disappointed if the fish threw the hook.
Finally, the sailfish just came up and laid over. She was done. I mean, I literally drove the boat alongside her.
My only regret is that, in our excitement.. I should say MY excitement, I gaffed that fish and put her in the boat. I'll regret that as long as I live. Yes, she was legal, and at the time, you could take one sailfish. Still, I sure wish we had at least tried to revive and release her. I'll always feel bad about that and I'll never take another billfish. I now know, by the way, that all you need for a mount are pictures and measurements.
Mike, on the other hand, had just caught the first offshore fish of his life... a sailfish. He looked at me and said, "Hey! I LIKE this offshore stuff! Now what do we do? "
I just stood there an stared at him and at the fish, and at the glass slick water... in total disbelief. He must have thought I had bumped my head. I at least had the presence of mind to take a picture of him and the fish. It turned out to be one of the best photos I think I have ever taken. I'll get it scanned and post it later.
Later that day, we caught several dolphin, including one huge bull. There were a few kings in there somewhere as well. I think I made him drive the boat some 60 miles home while I tried to comprehend what we had done.
He kept saying, "This offshore stuff is fun!"
Needless to say, he's hooked. We still fish together to this day. I don't think I've ever asked him to join me on an offshore trip and heard him say "No".
Anyway, when we started hearing reports of a sailfish being caught at the "J" last week... well, now you know why I said "all we could catch were kings."
Tight lines...
Dave
I fish out of Coffee Bluff Marina. There's a neighbor near there who worked at the marina from the time he was 13 or 14 right on through high school until he pursued greener pastures. His name is Mike and he's a super nice guy and most of us who live in the neighborhood or who have used that marina over the years have "watched him grow up", if you'll pardon the expression. As you might suspect, growing up on the river, he's a helluva fisherman, as well.
So a few years ago, I was fortunate enough to get a really nice offshore center console boat, twin engines.. the whole "dream boat" deal for me. One afternoon, after a fishing trip, Mike (who is now all grown up and a good friend), shows up at the dock as I am pulling in with my new boat and immediately starts helping me wash her down, stow the tackle, etc., etc.
It's important to note that he no longer works at the marina and hasn't for years. He's just that kind of guy. In any event, after we're all done with the boat, he mentions that he has never been offshore in his life and that he "sure would like to go sometime". I was more than a little surprised to hear this. I mean, he grew up right there on the river.
I offered to take him along the next morning and warned him not to be late. He was excited about the whole deal and promised that he'd be there at the designated 5:30 am departure time. He must have gone home and gotten ready and come back and slept on the boat. I arrived at 5:00 am and he was already there. To make matters worse, the other guy never showed up at all, and after my warning to Mike about "don't be late", I had no choice but to leave the other guy. So, it was just Mike and I heading out for his first offshore trip in his life... and probably my third trip on the new boat.
Be sure you have the picture here.... He's an excellent trout fisherman having fished all of his life in the river, usually in various jon boats with some type of small outboard, but he's certainly not above using a paddle. I think he was 19 or 20 years old at the time. It's 6:00 in the morning, the sun is barely up, and we're on a fancy brand new boat. Oh, it's July, the seas are slick, and we have twin 200 hp Yamahas hanging on the transom, and I'm saying something about "the Snapper Banks" and "60 miles offshore". With me so far?
So we run.. FAST... to the "L" Buoy where I want to stop and catch bait for the trip on out to the Snapper Banks. Mike's excellent with a cast net, so I ask him to get up in the bow as I approach a pod of bait that is tearing up the surface. It's so slick out that you can see every thing that moves. In fact, it's so slick that I have that uneasy feeling in my stomach that it's TOO slick and nothing is going to be biting at all. But I don't tell him that. I just ask him to get the cast net and head to the bow of the boat, which he does.
I'm idling up to the bait pod when .. WHAM!.. something huge slashes through the bait. Mike looks back at me and says "What was that ?!?!"
"I dunno", I said as I reversed the engines and backed away from the bait, " but don't throw that net. Lets slip a bait out and troll around that pod and see what happens". I'm thinking BIG kingfish, right?
I quickly rigged a single rod with a still frozen horse ballyhoo beneath a green sea witch and let it out about 50 yards behind the boat. While I'm rigging up, I can see that Mike is looking at this wire and frozen dead fish (which was about the size of some of the trout we catch inshore) and silly green feather contraption that I am rigging up, and he's too good a kid to say what I can clearly see on his face, which is "Nothing in the world is going to bite that"... but he stays quiet as it disappears into the depths behind the boat. I check the drag and put the rod into the rear rod holder and tell him to be ready. Meanwhile, that BIG king is still busting the bait and I'm getting really excited.
We dragged the bait as close to the school of baitfish as I dared, and nothing happened. I started to make a big turn to come back around for a second pass. But before we got even halfway through the turn, YEEEEEE!!!! The drag started screaming.. I don't know who it scared more, me or Mike.
"Grab the rod," I yelled. "Set the hook!"
Mike snatched the rod up and started pumping in an attempt to set the hook. But it was slack. Nothing there at all. I couldn't believe it. I mean, this fish had hit hard and I use a strange double hook rig like nothing you have ever seen when I fish with ballyhoo and it never misses. To this day, I have no idea why I did it, but I stopped the boat, reached over his shoulder, and put the reel into free spool. I don't think I have ever done that, but for some reason, I did it. A few seconds went by, and suddenly line started peeling off the reel again. Mike instinctively engaged the reel and the drag started screaming again. Now we were hooked up! I'm thinking, "Alright! A big king and I haven't even finished my coffee!"
That's when, directly behind the boat, the bill came out of the water. It was like it happened in slow motion. It was a bill... long, slender, and it just came straight up. And it just kept coming. Then, as the rest of the fish broke through the surface, the big dorsal fin opened up into a sail, and the fish "tailwalked" across our wake on that slick water. Then it hit the water again and took off. The drag screamed again. I could not believe what I had just seen.
Mike turned around wide eyed, holding the rod which at this point was nearly doubled over, and looked at me and said, "What the heck is that ?!? "
I had NEVER caught a billfish and I didn't want him to get too excited. I figured one of us had better remain calm, and I knew it wasn't going to be me, so I faked it and said, "Oh... it's just a sailfish. How about you move to the front of the boat and we'll chase him down before that reel runs out of line? Just tell me which way he goes."
The next 45 minutes I'll never forget. That sailfish jumped at least 30 times. Every time the fish would jump, Mike would lean into it and as it hit the water, he'd lean back. He looked like he'd been fishing offshore all of his life. I, on the other hand, kept yelling something about 20lb test on the reel and not to touch the drag. He'd point in the direction of the fish's latest run, and I'd steer that way. Then the fish would come up again, tailwalking, sometimes in a completely different direction than we were heading. This went on and on. I just knew we would lose that fish. I think I told Mike not to be disappointed if the fish threw the hook.
Finally, the sailfish just came up and laid over. She was done. I mean, I literally drove the boat alongside her.
My only regret is that, in our excitement.. I should say MY excitement, I gaffed that fish and put her in the boat. I'll regret that as long as I live. Yes, she was legal, and at the time, you could take one sailfish. Still, I sure wish we had at least tried to revive and release her. I'll always feel bad about that and I'll never take another billfish. I now know, by the way, that all you need for a mount are pictures and measurements.
Mike, on the other hand, had just caught the first offshore fish of his life... a sailfish. He looked at me and said, "Hey! I LIKE this offshore stuff! Now what do we do? "
I just stood there an stared at him and at the fish, and at the glass slick water... in total disbelief. He must have thought I had bumped my head. I at least had the presence of mind to take a picture of him and the fish. It turned out to be one of the best photos I think I have ever taken. I'll get it scanned and post it later.
Later that day, we caught several dolphin, including one huge bull. There were a few kings in there somewhere as well. I think I made him drive the boat some 60 miles home while I tried to comprehend what we had done.
He kept saying, "This offshore stuff is fun!"
Needless to say, he's hooked. We still fish together to this day. I don't think I've ever asked him to join me on an offshore trip and heard him say "No".
Anyway, when we started hearing reports of a sailfish being caught at the "J" last week... well, now you know why I said "all we could catch were kings."
Tight lines...
Dave
Terrific story. Thank you for sharing it with us.
B
B
Dave, does this Mike character work construction for aquaSouth? If so, I have seen the picture and it justifies the old saying "a picture is worth a thousand words".
Well that has got to best story :idea: No if you have pictures it not a story. 
Sometimes the best thing happen when you least expect it.
Thanks for making my morning a little easier to deal with..... I'll be thinking about that all day. Joel I think that "Story" has potential!
Jeff
Sometimes the best thing happen when you least expect it.
Thanks for making my morning a little easier to deal with..... I'll be thinking about that all day. Joel I think that "Story" has potential!
Jeff
Robert,
Yes, that's the picture. 8)
Yes, that's the picture. 8)
Dave, that's one heck of a fishing partner you have. They are working at the wastewater plant where I work and I have gotten to know Mike rather well. Great story, he didn't tell the story when he was showing us the picture. Thanks for sharing the story with us.
Hi Dave,
I havent visited the sight in a long time. I am out of state each week . Did you sell your boat yet. I wound up buying a 26ft Century cc with twin 150 Yams anyway, a used one. Good to see you still here. Stay in touch. Lets go fishing soon.
I havent visited the sight in a long time. I am out of state each week . Did you sell your boat yet. I wound up buying a 26ft Century cc with twin 150 Yams anyway, a used one. Good to see you still here. Stay in touch. Lets go fishing soon.
No, I never sell anything. Especially boats. I think there are 4 here now.
Congrats on your purchase. I think you'll like it. Mine's been great. Ayway, come on down and let's catch a few. Everything is looking pretty good out there.
Congrats on your purchase. I think you'll like it. Mine's been great. Ayway, come on down and let's catch a few. Everything is looking pretty good out there.
This didn't happen to me but somebody posted it on the Florida page about a year ago. I can't access that page at work or I'd post the link. If someone else can find it feel free to post the story. As I remember it, (the short version) a group were trolling off north Florida and hooked a sailfish and got it to the boat for pictures and a release. One of the crew members had recently gone through a nasty divorce and decided to place his wedding ring on the bill of the fish. (I guess since the fish was full grown, he didn't feel this would hurt the fish or remain fixed on the bill for long) A year later, almost to the day if I remember correctly, this person was trolling a hooked another sail. You guessed it! When they got it to the boat they found a wedding band at the base of bill. The fisherman removed it and placed it back on his finger! He had pictures of both catches and as far as I could determine, this was a true story. If you search the North Flirida page you can probably find the post.
He had pictures of both catches and as far as I could determine, this was a true story. If you search the North Flirida page you can probably find the post.
Dave,
I remember the story because it was on national TV. I have tried to locate the article but no good results.
Jim
I remember the story because it was on national TV. I have tried to locate the article but no good results.
Jim
Great story, Dave! I read every word!
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.