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Phin
Prolific Poster
12897 Posts |
 Posted - 09/12/2011 : 11:30:22 PM
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I could hardly stand it after the epic grouper bite last trip. Debated on going again Saturday and Sunday, but chose to shrimp Saturday and fish Sunday. Got a cooler of shrimp and hit the bed to rest up for more grouper snatching.
Got up at 4AM and couldn't go back to sleep. Don't you hate it when you can't sleep due to excitement? Watched TV and ate some grits while the time passed. 6AM comes around and Circle Hook hasn't shown up yet. Not like him at all so I call him up and ask him if he's scared of being too hot on a day with no wind or what. 
We got to the ramp only about 30 min late though, and I knew that 30 minutes would be motivation for Circle Hook to produce later on. I'd forgotten the bean bags too. We would not be dissuaded, however.
More able-bodied crew joined us at the ramp. Sundancer and the artist formerly known as P-murda jumped in the boat, and we ran out the harbor towards the bait spot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spwADtoQknU
P-murda and Circle hook proceeded with the bait making, and we were back on schedule due to flat seas.
Ran out a few more miles to drop on a little spot with dead bait. First drop put in four 2lb+ C bass. Went up to drift it again and found the B liners as well. Set up over the B liners and limited on 2-4 pound B liners and C bass in 30 or 40 minutes. It's tough when you start catching 4lb fish and youve already got a 4 man limit of the species in less than an hour of fishing. We will do our part though. Speaking of doing our part, we had to let a 15lb ARS go. I asked if the crew wanted to catch and release some more because they were certainly showing themselves in a few spots on the sonar. What do I know though, the government says they couldnt have been there, and some other highly respectable fishermen say I cant tell ARS from amberjacks on the sonar. We left the area instead of testing snapper speculation.
Where to next?
Grouperville? Maybe a different part of town. Didn't want to wear out my welcome in the side of town I was in last time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU5cVlhR4_k
Got to the town limits, and the welcome party came up on the first drop.
Some water stayed on the Go Pro lens and messed the overhead shot up, but I will post up video of this one at some point.
The jig got fouled on the way up, and this thing was fighting like a beast since Circle Hook couldnt keep its head under control!
Dropped anchor, and she hooked up good and true. 3 or 4 more grouper came in quickly along with some monster pinks that thought they were groupers.
Next thing you know, Circle Hook is singing the verse of the grouper song that goes, Now grab your leader and twist it round; then slam a fish on the deck so they see the gag you found.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsDercOBdOo
Around that point P-murda is mumbling about Circle Hook having espn with the fish or something, and
it happened.
I thought awhile about whether to post this next video or not, but I thought I'd post it for all of you seasoned offshore fellas who think grouper fishing's easy. And Ive also got to motivate the crew for next time. Now that a camera's on the boat we wont be holding anything back from the reports, fellas. You know this same thing happens to all of us, but I will pick on Pete for a second because this video shows how I got a fish a few minutes later that Ive never caught anything like before.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kixnTkm_2z4
The poor fella lost his rig. Consequently, he went in the bow to tie another one on, and I took his spot. He encouraged me to do this, actually. He told me it was a smart move I believe. There was nothing underhanded at all about this. I told him second string was going to get some playing time back there.
So I drop down a few times with a different bait that I think maybe only Circle Hook saw while Tim and Pete are preoccupied fishing or re-rigging up front.
I get a strange bite on the first drop. Different from the light scamp bite, and its got a weird sort of short burst of a run to it then nothing. No contact at all with the fish. I hooked the next few baits differently every time, and same thing. I finally tried something totally ridiculous I thought, but whatever was down there was not going to keep debiting our account. It was time for a withdrawal, and I had the slip filled out like the bank wanted this time. Check endorsed, SS and DL #'s, fingerprint, DNA sample, ankle bracelet.... just gimme my fish and stop burning me on every drop please.
Finally hooked up on a gag and just knew the hook wasnt going to be set once again because of some sort of fouling or bad angle (no pun intended). This time the sneaky gag was hooked though. It freight trained straight for the bottom and it started pulling 35lb of drag out of my reel. There wasnt any question about hookset this time.
The question going thru my mind in those split seconds was whether to go from both hands under the rod to one hand so I could go into full power with my reels drag lever and be over 40lb of pressure on this fish or whether I would thumb the reel and just hold on. 90 percent of the time when I thumb a reel I break a leader. I had heavy stuff on this time though. Keep in mind, these decisions have to be made in split seconds or else the fish would be lost.
I could get my foot on the gunnel and put the rod on my knee while I ramped drag up with a free hand too. Would it be too late by the time I made that move though? 90 percent of the times when I do that I lose a fish to the rocks. What to do?
What would you do?
I thought back to my days of grouper training with Purpose One. Purpose One hooked more gag groupers than anyone I ever fished with. I had this one hooked though. No need to think about how to hook them. How did he land them? Well, half broke off when we were over bottom like this I recalled. Bad thoughts arent helpful so, "How did he catch them even with under classed tackle, Phin?" I asked myself. Should I go with the win the race or wreck mentality? Maybe the break it off or break a basket with the fish mentality?
Which was going to happen? It was up to what I did in the next half second.
The fish is still peeling drag just a few inches with every kick of its tail, but the reel is putting the pressure on smoothly and the rods got great action.
But the fish is still winning. This is unbelievable, and I've got just one thought left to think before it's too late, and I think,
" THUMB IT "
So I did it. I did what had to be done and held him as steadily as I could. A wave came along at the perfect time and helped move the fish just a few inches. As we went in the trough slowly I got two feet of line on the reel. Held steady again as another crest lifted. Reeled three feet of line.
As soon as I thought I had this fish licked after these few seconds the fish went straight back down pulling four feet off at 35lbs of pressure again.
This was going to be the biggest grouper Ive ever caught if I can make the right decision again. Thumb or free up a hand to move into more drag on the reel.
How has my leader not broken yet?
I was not going to let this fish get into the bottom. No way. I will take broken tackle but not a rocking up. This time, when the boat came up with a wave I moved a free hand from under the rod and went into full drag power. Time to let this grouper know whats up (me).
6 cranks winch the fish 14 or 15ft off the bottom, and I am again thinking Ive got the hard work done on this one. The fish makes a run even harder than the first two. Line comes right off the reel, and I am psychologically losing the battle after thinking I had him only a second before.
The reel stopped the fish though, and I again was able to crank on 15ft or so. The fish protested again, but I could tell he was weakened at this point. Time to back off the drag and hope he isn't tricking me.
How has my leader not broken?
The fish pulls off 25lbs of drag like its nothing, and I am convinced this is a big gag still fighting this way 30ft off the bottom.
We go back and forth a few more times. He takes 4-5ft and then I get 10-15ft. Then, I finally feel the gag starting to glide rather than dig. I loosen the drag in case there's more battle with the new angle of hookset that's probably pulling him up now, and I am just praying I don't lose the fish after all that I'd been able to do so far with it.
The fish was gliding up underneath the boat sideways in the current like a terrific grouper should always do out of depth. I didnt know when my mono topshot was going to hit, but I knew I could not slow down on this fish or it'd come unhooked. Everyone was saying shark, AJ, etc. over and over so much that I too began to believe them. I called for the gaff, and Circle Hook bent over to leader the fish from under the boat.
At that point I take a deep breath and I'm exhausted, so I leanedback away from the rail so that I didn't fall into the water.
Then,
Somebody screamed,
HOGFISH!!!!!!!!
Seriously? Did I do that? Could not believe it. Hardest fighting fish Ive ever caught pound per pound using standup tackle.
WOW
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS_kWXHiF00
After high fives and getting over the shock of what had just happened I had to find a Gatorade in the shade. I let Pete get his spot back and told him to use my rod and reel since I had HOGGED UP his spot!
He didnt say much, but I could tell he was especially motivated as he slammed more fish on the deck along with Tim. I was afraid to do it, but after 30 minutes or so I grabbed another rod and dropped back down up in the front. As soon as the bait arrived, I felt the fantastic scamp bite. The hogfish was still hurting me. I could barely reel in the scamp. I felt muscles spasming and thought about handing the fish off to someone else. No way. Saw a man do that once, and I just couldnt let it happen. I was wondering if a left handed reel wouldnt be cool to be using at that point since my right arm was toast.
The crew kept on catching scamp until we got 2 or 3 away from our limit. It got severely slow at that point, and about the only thing good other than an occasional grouper that came out of all the work at that point was a cool soapfish Circle Hook caught.
Needless to say, the current shifted and the grouper bite was gone as well as our bait. We reset on a different part of the reef with one last round of baits but still nothing. The men kept catching fish we'd already limited on, and we were absolutely out of bait. We put the anchor into the boat and dropped jigs to no avail. Thought about cutting up a tuny to use as bait, but the bite had shut off all up and down the reef. Why fish until dark for one fish?
We got plenty.
This may be a good stopping point for the report for now.
Will finish it later on.
We came across a big weed mat on the way in and decided to try the slingers out. There were hundreds. Got some excellent video of them as well as a large barracuda and many other species that were hanging out. Got some video of a dolphin biting our bait as well. Brought home three of them and fed the school the tuny we'd cut up.
Heres the hogfish and the Christmas present (rod and reel) from my wife that helped make it happen.
Fish is a pending state record, and I will fill out the IGFA paperwork tomorrow also. 21 lb 15 oz EARLY Monday morning, and DNR kept the carcass this afternoon. Thanks to Scott and Dee at Haddrells for weighing me up and getting me in touch with Amy. And thanks to Atlantic Game and Tackle for the top secret leader material tip.
Lots more video and pics later. The videos of the dolphin are extremely cool. Just dont have time to sort thru and edit right now.
Sorry to my crew for being cramped up on our little boat, but it gets it done with good stuff and good people on board. Thank y'all.
Enjoy
EDIT:
Here are a few more videos from this trip. More footage of the dolphin to go through, but here are some of the coolest snips-
Sargassum Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPGd2YHSXwU
Mahi and Wahoo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voplimilSBk
More different species
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaI_90tUoek
dolphin hooked up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuNmvrDF08Y
Circle Hook's scamp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6ix6lPJyCc
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www.scmarine.org
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www.joinrfa.com
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Luke 8:22-25
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Edited by - Phin on 09/21/2011 06:12:43 AM |
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bwilliams
Senior Member
404 Posts |
Posted - 09/12/2011 : 11:49:12 PM
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| Great report. I think I saw you guys out there in about 120 feet of water. Water was real green. I was in a teal scout. Anyways if you guys have a spot hit me up. Hell we can even take my boat if you want. |
Edited by - bwilliams on 09/12/2011 11:54:08 PM |
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scdiver
Senior Member
207 Posts |
Posted - 09/12/2011 : 11:56:20 PM
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Nice fish and story! Congrats on the hog on hook and line.
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PainKiller
Intermediate Member
97 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 06:46:52 AM
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Nicely done!
Jason |
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Lake Murray Viper
Intermediate Member
128 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 06:57:38 AM
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Great report. Thought you might have been out yesterday. Sent you an email. When you are back in Cola town let me know.
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26 Regulator FS "Miss Ella Pearl" |
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on a fishin mission
Senior Member
1420 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 07:41:05 AM
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Congrats!
"Those who have the ability to make a difference have the responsibility to do so." Thomas Jefferson |
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big jigger
Senior Member
172 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 07:50:08 AM
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Awesome day and I bet your really happy your wife bought you that set up now
grab the gaff and another cold beer |
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Circle Hook
Senior Member
729 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 08:10:30 AM
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Thanks again for yet another AWESOME trip Phin!
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ReelHunter
Senior Member
1543 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 08:28:11 AM
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| Congrats Phin. Guess it goes without saying that that was the biggest hogfish I have ever weighed in or seen for that matter around SC on ice. Still amazed at how easily you got that 6# downtrigger ball into his/her vent! HAHA, jk man. Congrats |
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brianh
Senior Member
468 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 08:32:02 AM
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Way to go Wes!
Cape Horn 24OS
twin 150 Optimax
I don't want to be rich,
I just want 1 dollar more than I can spend!
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Bonzo72
Prolific Poster
11070 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 09:08:44 AM
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awesome story and even better fish...nice work Phin...
The Morris Island Lighthouse www.savethelight.org |
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mhebbard
Senior Member
414 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 09:21:03 AM
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Clearly if you just caught 1, they are endangered right? Better put them on the list...
Congrats on the hog and pending record! Good read + great fish. +1 for the hogfish-eating-reel pic.
Matt |
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23Sailfish
Prolific Poster
15423 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 09:22:07 AM
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Congratulations Phinigan. It was bound to happen on your boat eventually. Beautiful fish. Fantastic report!
www.baturinphotography.com
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Rapchizzle
Senior Member
3672 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 09:49:52 AM
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Hot (**() man congrats, that thing is a beast
yella bote
black motor |
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sundancer350
Intermediate Member
145 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 09:52:05 AM
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Again thanks for taking me. (The old guy) Glad I was there to see this. Look forward to more good times. Congrats on the record !!!!!
A bad day fishing sure beats a good day at work |
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h20gul
Senior Member
922 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 10:22:07 AM
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Yowser! Congrats BIG time!
31 Contender
Carolina Skiff J16 |
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Mr. KING
Senior Member
586 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 11:48:22 AM
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WOW!! Congrats Phin! Heck of a day, Name in the record books now!!
Need floors?? Just ask!!!!
WWW.KINGFLOORCOVERING.COM |
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FishnBarrels
Senior Member
537 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 1:03:32 PM
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| Awesome report and story like usual Phin. Keep us posted on what happens with the record |
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Phin
Prolific Poster
12897 Posts |
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sshaarda
Senior Member
3335 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 4:16:12 PM
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Wes, I should have accepted the invite. Nice job as always.
"If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel ." Benjamin Netanyahu
GW 205
F200 Yam |
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Blue_Runner
Senior Member
1186 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 4:54:03 PM
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Let us know what a state record tastes like. Nice job, congratulations!
It ain't no mystery...this beer's history! |
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Scoutin 4 Goodies
Senior Member
4967 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 5:25:15 PM
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Great catch Phin! When I shot my first big one I wondered how big he was in the record book stand point. Never found one over 21 pounds listed any where.
You may have a World Record my friend!!!
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Set the trap boys, we going to pass through them again!! |
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happyappy
Senior Member
347 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 5:32:30 PM
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nicely done! got a good laugh out the "soapfish" haha  |
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sshaarda
Senior Member
3335 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 5:38:30 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Scoutin 4 Goodies
Great catch Phin! When I shot my first big one I wondered how big he was in the record book stand point. Never found one over 21 pounds listed any where.
You may have a World Record my friend!!!
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Set the trap boys, we going to pass through them again!!
YEP!!!
http://www.igfa.org/records/Fish-Records.aspx?LC=ATR&Fish=Hogfish
"If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel ." Benjamin Netanyahu
GW 205
F200 Yam |
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patrickkalish
Intermediate Member
149 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 6:18:47 PM
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VERY NICE Phin
I lost my AvatarHead 2300 WA Keywest
Twin 115 Yammers
Honey Dew This
a man can fish for his entire life, 'fore he realizes its not the fish he has pursued!!! |
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gotchacovered
Prolific Poster
18036 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 6:39:17 PM
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Nice fish.
Gotcha Covered,
Lee Strickland
Strickland Marine Insurance Agency, Inc.
https://stricklandmarine.net
843-795-1000 / 800-446-1862 |
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Topic |
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Tigress 9/11/11 - world record trip
