Back from 2 more weeks in Sanibel

[yogai]

And it was not much different than the first 2.

As promised, I went after goliath grouper with a 6/0 senator, 80 lb boat rod, and 300 lb mono. I used jacks and spadefish as bait. Got one jewfish hookup on a 2 lb spadefish, and I was (as expected) pinned to the pier railing while the "locked-down" drag still gave line to the leviathan of the deep. the line broke of course.

I did get a 50 inch snook on the same setup with a jack about 12 inches long. But I didn't have a camera and I didn't want to take it out of the water and risk killing it.

Other than that, still lots of snapper, spadefish, and sand bream to keep me company. The fishing was slower than I remember in previous years though.

[emanuel]

50 inch snook? :eek: That's a BIG girl right there, wish you could have taken a picture.

[yogai]

50 inch snook? :eek: That's a BIG girl right there, wish you could have taken a picture.

Yeah it was big. I really wanted to run to my car and grab my camera, but I knew it was better to stay in the water with the fish and make sure it got away in the best condition possible. There were a bunch of smaller snook visible from the pier that day, but I didn't expect one big enough to grab that jack and easily fit a 16/0 circle hook in its mouth.

The fight lasted less than 30 seconds with 300 lb mono. The drag on the 6/0 didn't give an inch and I was pumpin and reelin like mad thinking that it was a 300 lb jewfish that would drag me in as soon as it realized it was hooked.

There was some cool dude I met and fished on the pier with for a week who said he hooked into a goliath twice in one day. Broke off both times with 150 lb dacron and a 400 lb steel leader. I guess it's time for me to get a 9/0 and load some parachute cord onto it :eek:

I laughed when some guy who fishes there all the time said "you'll know when you can get a jewfish because nobody will be catching any of the small stuff. that means he's down there and everything else is gettin the hell out."

[Catfish713]

Yea those mofo Jewfish get huge, I met a guide, who told me that the smallest bait he uses for them is a 12# crevalle:eek: a big Jewfish will eat anything in its path, even small sharks

[lipyanker]

nice post sorry you didnt get the monster but heck it sounded like a great fight and that snook is no joke