Surprise catch

Fished the JCAA fluke tournament yesterday. Checked a lot of spots and did a lot of running but were only able to manage a 5.9 lb fluke as our best for the Shark River port. At the time a 6.5 lb was leading so not sure where we ended up. We stopped on some numbers heading back around 2:30 or so. Did a few drifts when we looked at the fish finder and it was completely lit up. Wasn't exactly sure what we were over as we fish this area quite often and never saw marks like these. It looked like the Oil Wreck it was literally from top to bottom. Thought maybe a big school of bunker. Right then my son Ryan's rod starts screaming! Was hoping he had a 27 lb fluke like the one eaten by the raccoon a few years back (lol!) as line was quickly vanishing from his reel. Everyone reeled in and we had to chase the fish to avoid him being spooled. About a half hour or so later, we found out what the markings were, a school of big drum! Fish was hooked in the mouth on a 2 ounce buck tail which amazingly held up over the course of the fight. Not sure how big the fish was since we didn't take any measurement, wanted to snap a few pictures and get her back in the water. Fish was big and had some serious weight! Prehistoric looking creature but an amazing catch! The bull dog runs this fish made were absolutely insane! Incredible fight! Took us the better part of a half hour to revive her as it seemed to have enough energy but couldn't right itself. After repeated attempts swimming her aside the boat, we thought maybe the air bladder was the problem even though we hooked and fought her in only 50 feet of water. Every time we released her, she went belly up and was flapping around but couldn't right herself and go down. As a last ditch effort to revive her, we brought her back in and put a very small slit under the pectoral fin and as soon as we did you could hear the air leaking out. Within seconds she turned over and with a huge splash of her tail took off! Never knew fish with air bladders were effected in such shallow water but learn something every day and ecstatic to see the big girl swim away. I've seen other reports of incidental catches with these fish, think we've had a few others hooked in past but I will tell you the fight these fish give is unreal! Unfortunately for us it wasn't the 27 lb fluke we hoped it was! Great day on the water, fluke fishing could have been better but not too bad either. Couldn't be more proud of the crew for their efforts reviving this beautiful fish and more happy seeing her swim away to give someone else the thrill of a lifetime! Fun way to end the day!

[AndyS]

Nice catch ! I heard they are good eating.

[tombanjo]

Nice catch, they are fun. They are very good eating though some would argue with me. All that energy spent reviving her could have been directed into filleting which with drums are quite the challenge. Great pics.

[JDTuna]

Awesome job landing and releasing that absolute dinosaur on light tackle! I still have yet to tangle with one.

[Tuna Tales]

Nice catch!


Joe T.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Wow!! Nice surprise and great job on the release.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBqtnrhMc6A

Attached is a video I looked up of filleting drum. Very glad we released the big girl. Check out the video at around the 11:00 mark and tell me if you'd ever consider eating these fish after seeing the worms this guys pulled out of this one. I've caught cod with worms before which normally are one small ring worm looking critter which is easy to find in the fillet and wasn't concerned but check out not only the quantity in this fish but the size. They should use these guys on Fear Factor! For anyone who hooks into one in the future, just wanted to let you know what was in store in the event you decided to bring it back to the dock. If the fish in the video was 60 lbs, the one we hooked had to go every bit of 80 - 90 lbs. Can only imagine what was hiding in those fillets....lol!!!!!!!

[shrimpman steve]

Wow. That things head almost looks like a face!

Great job on the effort put into the release

[RussH]

That video was crazy. Definitely a catch and release species!

[tombanjo]

Nah, nice fish but world record is 94lbs, picture below.

The one I ate was like 35lbs, worm free, at least I think so. Cut it into small chunks to make sure.


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1R05jywWEB...twater++vv.jpg