# HOLY CRAP I GOT SPOOLED!!!! (Fishin Report)



## KodiakZach (Mar 16, 2005)

Well folks, it looks like good things came in two's yesterday evening.. thank goodness the only thing that didn't come in 2's was me getting spooled.

Started out with a pair of in the slot Black Drum's, both on dead shrimp, one at the end of the pier and one at the front:



















Then I picked up a pair of slot Reds on live shrimp in the front incoming surf:



















Then I heard it was sharkier at the end of the pier than it ever had been (heard this from my buddy's who shark fish there every single day). So I grabbed my two 7-ft medium light spinning outfits spooled with 20-lb PP and headed to the end of the pier to catch some shark  

Not to be disappointed, I hooked 2 of these Spinner Sharks that were both around 3-ft long and a very fun fight on my lightweight setup: 



















Getting a little bit cocky at that point, I threw on a half of a medium size whiting and tossed it out. What came next I'll never forget.... 

*QUESTION:* How long does it take to strip 150-yds of 20-lb braid off of 4000 class spinning reel when a 6-8 ft shark hits???

*ANSWER:* Approx. 8 to 10 seconds!  

Oh yeah, and don't bother even trying to cup the spool to try and stop or slow him down... because when you do (and I found this one out the hard way) you will literally melt the skin on your hand. Yes, that's right, my shark wanted to head due North and there wasn't anything I could do to convince him otherwise. 

Those 10 seconds felt like a minute as everyone gathered around and rooted for the shark to spool me since they knew I didn't bring the right gear for the job. My drag washers are probably shot on that Sahara now. We all thought it was hilarious how quick the line melted off the reel, the smoke, etc.. and we continued to laugh about it throughout the evening. Needless to say it was an ABSOLUTE BLAST getting spooled by a monster on my lightweight rod and well worth the $12 of missing PP to tangle with the biggest fish I've ever hooked into.


----------



## Big Bill (Dec 31, 2004)

*Sweet report zach*

You got a welt to remember that shark by now!
I got spooled last year on the beach by a big tarpon and got the same thing. I think it altered my thumbprint...HAHA
Hey are those spinners or sharpnose? The bigger of the two was perfect grilling size!
Have fun


----------



## Anna (Sep 16, 2006)

Fantasic report KZ!!! Thanks for sharing your adventure!
What pier were you fishing at? We will be in Florida next week and are hoping to catch lots of fish too!


----------



## sand flea (Oct 24, 1999)

You always give great reports. I'll be watching more and more as fall turns to winter in my neck of the woods.


----------



## Fishbreath (Nov 11, 2004)

Nice Zack. Ditto what Flea said, when we're up here in the North in dead of winter, we'll be reading your Sun state exploits. Fish on!!!


----------



## Andre (Mar 15, 2003)

Sweeeeeet


----------



## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

*Nice job*

Zach, congrats on the catch. yep it's fun to get spooled every once and a while.


----------



## jettypark28 (Jun 23, 2006)

*Same thing happen,*

but was using Mono, and at least you can cup it and snap the line before it goes bye bye....But with braid my hand wouldnt even have been close to the reel LOL....(Those cuts hurts like hell) anyway are you going out to defend your honor??? or are you going to stick to those redfish??? heh heh...I decided to get the gear, that i need and go back for more  At least it only happen once to you....i got slap around three days in a row....and learned that if you don't have the right stuff....leave the big fishies alone again great report...i also enjoy listening to somebody else get slap around...heh heh....too bad for your reel, that pp doesnt give one bit......was that your new pole also???


----------



## adp29934 (Dec 30, 2008)

Great story man. Good stuff!opcorn:


----------



## Jigmaster (Apr 3, 2006)

*I had to read this one!!!*

I thought you got spooled on the Lake?:fishing:


----------



## Fishmaster (May 8, 2009)

One quick question: What pier did you go to? I am new here...and some how I missed that imfo in your post.


----------



## drumrun (Dec 5, 2007)

Wow, this thread is 3 YEARS OLD!!!!


----------



## jhmorgan (May 16, 2007)

Anyone know where Zach went?


----------



## emanuel (Apr 2, 2002)

He's still around on another board I frequent but not nearly as active online as he used to be. I know he quit working for ATT and went to another company, so I imagine he's quite busy.


----------



## SnookMook (Jan 7, 2004)

Although a great story, who revives a three-year-old fishing report thread. I thought KZ was back.


----------



## KodiakZach (Mar 16, 2005)

Whats up guys! Yes, I got spooled, but that was 3 years ago in Saltwater. Heaven knows all I do anymore is fish freshwater  So here's a story for ya, hope ya enjoy: 

The 55-acre lake I live on holds lunker bass and 2 nights ago I was out there catching some Bass on free-lined bluegills the last hour before sunset. I thought it odd when I got down to the dock that there was an unopened Gatorade and a full pack of bagels. I could tell the bagels had been sitting down there all day because of the condensation on the inside of the bag. So I left the stuff alone and started fishing, figuring someone might return for them. Well I wasted all the bread I brought with me after chumming the water and catching a 7.5-lb'er and a 5-lber. Shortly thereafter, my wife texted me and told me the pizza had arrived. So as I'm slowly packing up to go, not wanting to waste my nice palm sized bluegill as bait, I decided I was going to take said bagels and chum the water all at once, right over the top of my fish. 

Well lo' and behold after threw out all 5 bagels (each split into huge chunks), the water literally started boiling. Bluegill and turtles were feeding and monster bass were coming up slapping them outta the water. It looked like an offshore feeding frenzy minus the birds. I walked away and started to pack up my other 3 poles when all of the sudden I hear drag zinging. I started to go for my rod when I realized this was odd because I had tightened my drag most of the way down. I got to my pole and picked it up and the line was literally melting off the reel with an extremely tight drag setting. Whatever it was, it was heading straight out to open water, just below the water surface, with the speed of a juvenile tarpon. The wake and boils it made with each slash of it's tail were huge!!

Now while this gigantic freshwater fish is melting line off my reel, a million calculations are going thru my head, in approximately this order (about 5 seconds):

1.) This fish is BIGGGGG. Bigger than any I've hooked into in this lake, and I've caught 'em up to 9-lbs 15oz before in here.
2.) This fish is swimming in a straight line towards open water. None of the Bass I've caught in here ever seem to do that.
3.) This fish is swimming right under the water surface. Big bass don't do that.
4.) This fish is not zigging, zagging, pulling or jumping like bass do.
5.) This fish is swimming quicker than any bass I've ever caught. And folks I've probably caught over a 1000 bass in my life!
5.) This fish is definitely not a Bass.

Well I got down to about 1/4 of a spool remaining and then the line went dead. At first I thought he had broke my line. Then I realize, he never had the hook. Whatever creature this was, it had the bait in it's mouth, but was not hooked. So I reeled in the bait and see that whatever it was, IT HAD TEETH! Sharp Teeth. My bait was destroyed. I have pics of the Bass and my destroyed Bluegill. Sorry though... I'm too lazy to pull the pics off of my I-phone tonight.


*So the question then remains:* What the hell was it??

- Definitely not a bass.
- We've had recent reports of a gator but I don't think it fit's their M.O.
- Even if it was a huge catfish, it couldn't swim that quick (It had the speed of a huge Jack.)
- We have 25-lb grass carp in the lake, but there was no way one of those could fit a palm size bluegill in its mouth. And, they don't eat bluegill.

My only thought is that it could be a Red Bellied Pacu (colossoma macropomum)(An Amazonian fish related to Piranha) that some fish tank owner let loose in our lake. If so, that thing is now 30+ lbs! With teeth!  They can reach up to 88-lbs, and they are supposed to be herbivores. However, me and some of the folks in the neighborhood have caught this Pacu several times a few years back on live Shiners when it was young. Each time it was caught (about 4 months apart) it seemed to have doubled in size. All I know is between gators and monster Pacu, I'm glad I sold my kayak


----------



## KodiakZach (Mar 16, 2005)

P.S. Found something interesting on YouTube the other day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkdNg6o11MA

Pat, are you sure that's not you bro?


----------



## emanuel (Apr 2, 2002)

Good to see you back, we were worried about you.

You could have had a big gar hit your bluegill.


----------



## jhmorgan (May 16, 2007)

You have any snapping turtles in that lake? Iv seen them do the same thing before, with that tail they can absolutely burn it up.


----------



## jackatl (Apr 14, 2009)

looks like sun glow pier, daytona. I fished there last year and will be heading there in AUgust.


----------



## KodiakZach (Mar 16, 2005)

A gar..... hmmmm.... didn't think of that. Haven't ever seen any in this lake but it certainly could be an explanation for it. I am 100% certain it wasn't a turtle unless he had a jet engine strapped to his back =)


----------



## eaglesfanguy (May 1, 2003)

3 yrs later .. and i bet that 250yds od P.P is still floating out there as a mess of death..........Hate getting spooled...


----------



## Tracker16 (Feb 16, 2009)

It's pretty amazing when big sharks make their run. You don't really have time to decide if you should cut your line. I used to be station on this little island in the pacfic and 5-6ft sharks would come into the lagoon all the time. If you caught them on the flats they would make blinding fast runs until you were down to the last couple of raps before you could start to turn them. What was really funny was how they would let you get them about five feet from shore and take off like a rocket again. usually 3-4 times before you could land them. Catch two of them in a row and your arm muscles would be screaming. Awesome fun !!


----------

