Launched early and headed to NW. About 8am I hooked a fish on the iron near the surface. It nearly spooled me straight west and headed right for the Dolphin. As I got closer to the Dolphin, I started to slack off and hope the fish would change direction. Unfortunately the fish appeared to swim under the boat and made a right turn. Instantly, about 10 guys on the starboard side of the Dolphin went bendo and their lines all followed my fish.
By now I am within feet of the Dolphin and the skipper is screaming at me telling me that he is going to cut the line if I don't cut it myself. Now I have lines all around me and was worried about a passenger trying to snag me. So I get me knife out and quickly paddle along the side of the boat and cut everyone off that seems to be snagged with me.
The fish continues to tow me out to sea and away from the Dolphin. I can hear heavy iron splashing all around me as I get about 50 yds away from the boat. They are laughing and cheering and offering up the jackpot for whoever could snag me.
Luckily the passengers were not accurate casters as my fish changed direction again and went deep. After pulling on some stringers, I got the fish to color and couldn't believe my eyes. When I sank the gaff in the gill area, I had a difficult time getting the fish in the boat.
The fish was incredibly fat and the pic doesn't do the fish justice compared to my size. On the beach, the fish pegged my 50# scale, so I had to take it down to fisherman's to weigh. It weighed 54.6# and was 57 inches long. 8)
Go get 'em,
Pat