NutsBoltsFishingBoating
Tony Page - Great Grouper Getaway Finalist
Once in a great while the fishing gods shine down on those striving for that next BIG ONE that doesn’t get away. It was a bright sunny day in June (My birthday matter of fact) and the weather in Carrabelle, FL was picture perfect with calm seas. My wife and good friend Chuck Wheeler exited the mouth of the Carrabelle River in search of pin fish which we found in abundance behind Dog Island. We typically fish Inshore being we were in a skiff style Carolina Skiff but this day we were plugging out (no pun intended) to a near shore artificial reef for grouper. Once anchored pin fish appeared to be the bait of choice as my wife Amy (who loves her some grouper) gets slammed to the side of the skiff like she had hold of a VW going nowhere but south. With 30 lb test I knew she wasn’t likely going to get the fish up without some help from Mr. Grouper himself. After a couple minutes she needed some relief (as good as she is) so I took over the rod. I eased off the drag and gave the fish some slack hoping he would move enough to try another strong lift before he hung up again. I tightened the line and laid back on the rod and “nothing”. I offered slack once more and repeated the procedure again and again and nothing. The 4th time I’d made the decision it was him or the line and I pulled back on the rod and held it for what seem like 10 mins but was actually 20-30 seconds. All the sudden I felt the beast move and I gained a bit of line. I pulled up and reeled again until I felt the fish swim under the boat and then I went to lifting and reeling down until Mr. Big came near the surface. After much maneuvering and handing ! the rod back to Amy to assist Chuck in grabbing the fish with the bogies Chuck lifted all 34” and 20 lbs of gag into the boat. Little did we know this would be one of the most memorable fishing days on the water. Chuck landed another 30” fish a few minutes later along with his first ever keeper cobia. After several more keeper gags we realized we were out of room in the coolers and the thunder storms were building and we headed in with wide smiles. One thing is sure in life, you never know what’s below the surface until to put forth the effort to see!
Tony Page - Great Grouper Getaway Finalist
Once in a great while the fishing gods shine down on those striving for that next BIG ONE that doesn’t get away. It was a bright sunny day in June (My birthday matter of fact) and the weather in Carrabelle, FL was picture perfect with calm seas. My wife and good friend Chuck Wheeler exited the mouth of the Carrabelle River in search of pin fish which we found in abundance behind Dog Island. We typically fish Inshore being we were in a skiff style Carolina Skiff but this day we were plugging out (no pun intended) to a near shore artificial reef for grouper. Once anchored pin fish appeared to be the bait of choice as my wife Amy (who loves her some grouper) gets slammed to the side of the skiff like she had hold of a VW going nowhere but south. With 30 lb test I knew she wasn’t likely going to get the fish up without some help from Mr. Grouper himself. After a couple minutes she needed some relief (as good as she is) so I took over the rod. I eased off the drag and gave the fish some slack hoping he would move enough to try another strong lift before he hung up again. I tightened the line and laid back on the rod and “nothing”. I offered slack once more and repeated the procedure again and again and nothing. The 4th time I’d made the decision it was him or the line and I pulled back on the rod and held it for what seem like 10 mins but was actually 20-30 seconds. All the sudden I felt the beast move and I gained a bit of line. I pulled up and reeled again until I felt the fish swim under the boat and then I went to lifting and reeling down until Mr. Big came near the surface. After much maneuvering and handing ! the rod back to Amy to assist Chuck in grabbing the fish with the bogies Chuck lifted all 34” and 20 lbs of gag into the boat. Little did we know this would be one of the most memorable fishing days on the water. Chuck landed another 30” fish a few minutes later along with his first ever keeper cobia. After several more keeper gags we realized we were out of room in the coolers and the thunder storms were building and we headed in with wide smiles. One thing is sure in life, you never know what’s below the surface until to put forth the effort to see!