[Ditter]

For about 20 years we owned boats and regularly fished 100 miles off shore of Galveston and Freeport. It was great fun but hard hard work and we are too old to do it now. The fish that I mentioned that knocked me down and left a mark was a Ling. My husband reminded me that the fish wasn't on anyones line, he was just swimming by and my husband reached out with the gaff and gaffed him. Talk about bringing a green fish into the boat WOW! That is why he flipped off the gaff and knocked me for a loop.

[Charles Martel]

Bringing a large fish aboard before tiring him out can be hazardous to your boat. I saw some guys in a small center-console boat (well, small for that far out - I think it was a 23' Whaler) try to boat a *big* cobia. They must've been slow to whomp him with the "Welcome Aboard" club, because a loud thrashing commenced and the stainless bow rail, along with big chunks of the fiberglass gunwhale were knocked loose. I think they headed in after they finally subdued the fish, not wishing to push their luck. :-)

Here's an interesting image to go with this thread. I think it's legit, not Photoshopped. Looks like a still from a videocamera. Go to the image's site and click on the pic for the full-size version.