This is pretty amazing too. 124 lb blue catfish caught in the Mississippi.
Posted on 09/25/2007 8:17:54 PM PDT by HonkyTonkMan
LAGLER BEACH, Fla. -- A man standing on a Central Florida beach reeled in a 12-foot, 5-inch, 550-pound great hammerhead shark, likely the biggest catches ever made in the area.
"I'm still in shock at the size of this fish," angler Dan Ficochello said. "I'll never catch one bigger than that. That's a catch of a lifetime."
Ficochello said he went about 300 yards offshore in his kayak and dropped a baracuda head to the bottom of the ocean floor as bait. He then dragged his line back to the beach and waited for a bite.
Soon, the shark took the line.
Ficocello said the shark put up a ferocious fight, taking the men three hours to bring him to the beach.
"My first thought was, 'What am I going to do with this?' Because it wasn't moving, there was no chance of a release. It was done. I had never seen a shark this big before in person," Ficochello said. "It was a non-stop tug-a-war. I was worn out after an hour."
Others said they were shocked such a big shark was swimming off shore.
"You're swimming and having a good time and something like that could be just a few feet from you," angler Michael Ficocello said. "It makes you think twice. It's their home. You are intruding on their area."
You can always can cut the line. I’ve had to do that a couple of times. That would be a nice centerpiece or maybe a hanging bar light.
>>>Not being much of a salt water fisherman, I’m curious as to what you mean by this.<<<
I’m not a mind-reader, but you can figure it out. You don’t got fishing for triggerfish and snapper with a barracuda head. Barracudas eat those fish.
And you don’t typically go out on a kayak, either. Just fish from the pier.
And if you’re going to fight a shark, you’re going to have to have one heck of a rod and reel. A big shark is going to take your line and run with it—and run far.
It was no accident.
There's a "Flagler Beach" in Florida and this may just be a typo.....but then again, it may not be.
I love all the little mysteries that pop up on FR every once in a while, LOL.
Leni
The high school kids near Galveston will bait a big hook with a chicken or ham hock, drop it out in the surf, and leave the rest of the line attached to a pick up.
When the shark takes the bait, they start slowly driving the pickup inland until the shark is grounded. Just takes a few minutes. Much easier than fighting a big monster with a rod/reel.
Yes, I do!
What's up you're cryptic, Bermuda Triangle, comment......???
This was no accidental catch.
What, the shark got on his cell phone and called the guy?....I'm over here!
“You’re swimming and having a good time and something like that could be just a few feet from you,” angler Michael Ficocello said. “It makes you think twice. It’s their home. You are intruding on their area.”
Yeah, I guess if you are swimming 300 yards out, you would be intruding on their area.
I was with some guys doing this at Cape Lookout, NC last year. They’d start at about 4:00pm, kayak the bait out about 300 yards and drop it then paddle back in. They were running super high # test on big Penn ocean reels and had strap on rod holders for the fight. They caught about 6 black tips between 60-84” in a few hours.
One guy got tail slapped right in the small of his back by the biggest fish when they were de-hooking it.
I had a puny 9’ surf rod with 20# test and got spooled by something that snapped the line after it stripped the reel.
Best not to be in the water past your knees in the late afternoon!
He went 300 yards out and dropped a ‘cude head. He was fishing for something big.
This is pretty amazing too. 124 lb blue catfish caught in the Mississippi.
That head would make a great mailbox if cleaned up and hollowed out properly.
Interesting hypocrite you are...
Enjoy...
We use to catch them on a ski rope with chain leader when I was a kid.
Did he noodle it?
Never mind, this has to be an east coast thing.....
In the mean time, I'll use smaller minows and night crawlers.
That’ll teach you to not barefoot ski!
Take a hike, putz.
“Me and my spirit guide right up the Peace River.”
I paddled 62 miles of the Peace back in the 70’s. Paradise.
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