I'll preface this report by saying that I really had no intent on keeping any fish so for all intents and purposes this was a C&R trip.
Arrived at the Rod-n-Reel West around 8:30 and found trailers parked in the over-flow lot
I guess it's going to be one of those days. Get launched and I head over to an undisturbed patch of water. Fishing was slow for the first couple of hours and just when I was ready to rack the trolling gear a white BFG 10oz tandem back 8 bars on a penn 330 gets nailed and the reel starts to sing. After about a 5min fight I land a new personal best 44" fish.
Please don't beat me up about the fish being on the deck, the fish was handled gently and revived at the side of the boat until it swam away under its own power.
I was completely exhausted after landing that fish so I was hoping that none of the other rods would go off for awhile. Well, wouldn't you know it shortly after a 12oz tandem mojo gets hit and my arms turn to spaghetti while reeling in this 39" 'er
This fish was also revived at the side of the boat until it pulled away from me.
At this point I have absolutely nothing left. Between the excitement of landing two of my biggest fish ever and the physical exertion in took to land them I'm totally spent. So here I am fishing for trophy rock and praying to god that nothing bites!
I get about 30 minutes of rest and during this time I'm texting pics and talking crap to all of my friends who couldn't make it out today when a 8oz white tandem from All Tackle (mylar) gets nailed what looks to be two different times. Oh great, now I have a double on(or so I think). So I grab rod and the reel is still singing. I don't want to tighten the drag, but at this point I'm not gaining any ground on the fish, so I tighten it a few turns. This fish is
STRONG. I get the fish to the boat and to my surprise it's only one fish on the tandem, but both lures are in the fish's mouth! I get the fish in the boat and I see that it's terribly deep hooked by the stinger on the heavier lure. The smaller lure is only lip hooked. I tried my best to get the stinger out without killing the fish, but the more I tried the worse it got. By the time I get the hook out this is what I had
This was the strongest 36" fish I've ever fought. Needless to say that I kept this fish and bagged trolling for the day and
in the future all C&R trips on my boat will include lures without stingers.
On the way in there was another CBBT like bird show, but this time it was right out in front of CB. Lots of boats on hand and I'm sure someone will post more info on that here. Jigged for awhile and caught a few more.
Talked to a few guys at the ramp and gave the 36" to a father and son who didn't do as well today. All things considered I had a great day.
-JB