lost needle eel off s.r.inlet

[squan63]

hooked a whale on a brand new needle eel jigging right under the boat around noon in 55 ft of water dont no if it even realized he was hooked came up about 30 ft from the boat when the line broke thought i had a tuna at first.2 guys on boat were suprised me too

[GetANet]

A whale? That would have been a first!
AND a line class record for sure!!!
What is the bag limit for whales? LOL!!!!!!!!

[chefsamg19]

Saw two today out there, last week saw 200lb bluefin on top

[Striperswiper]

I saw the whale come up next to you but didn't realize you hooked it.

pretty cool watching it feed

[squan63]

yea i didnt no what i had on till when it came up there next to the boat and the braid broke pretty interesting

[Papasown]

Hey Squan63..........You are a very lucky guy to have hooked up with a whale, even if it were for a few seconds. I've been fishing for over 60 years, being brought up LBI in the 1940's and 50's. We all fished, and clammed and crabed, and caught bait, because that's all there was to do. In all the years since on boat or beach, I never saw or heard of anyone hooking up with a whale, or porpoise. I guess you're blessed. Happy Thanksgiving, all...........Papa

[Fin Reaper]

Originally Posted by GetANet

A whale? That would have been a first!
AND a line class record for sure!!!
What is the bag limit for whales? LOL!!!!!!!!

My bet is, it would have been a half inch short...

[JerseyCoast]

Tons of tuna out there right now. But to break off so quick...... maybe a stray blue? Does not sound like you had much pressure on the fish? Or did you?

[squan63]

HAD AN AVET SX ON A TREVALA S WITH 40 LB BRAID drag tight the only reason im sure it was a whale because we saw it surface not far from the boat with my line coming off going right to it. hooked it right under the boat big question is did it inhale my single hook metal along with a thousand sand eels or did i snag it

[Denlon]

Originally Posted by GetANet

A whale? That would have been a first!
AND a line class record for sure!!!
What is the bag limit for whales? LOL!!!!!!!!

A whale is unusual..that's for sure.
But how about an airplane?

Back in the middle 50's or so, my Dad and I were fishing for Fluke off the old Long Branch Fishing Pier. We were using the standard (in those days) a custom, homemade, 12 foot, one piece Calcutta Bamboo Rod, a Penn 160 reel, 15 lb Ashaway nylon line, and a 4 Oz sinker. Being about 40 feet in the air on the pier, we could routinely cast at least a 100 yards. With the long rod, there was always a large upward line loop following the trajectory of the sinker. One day, my Dad made a cast, and just as the loop was out there, a military sea plane of some sort buzzed by the pier at a very low altitude about 50 feet off the water. The line hooked over one of the pontoons, and tore line off the reel so fast it burned my Dad's thumb before it back lashed and broke off.

I bet that pilot was surprised if the sinker, hook, and line were still attached when he landed!

By the way, for about 30 years my Dad was the Pier's expert Fluke fishing PRO. He was known as "Buddy" in those days, and was always given free pass to the pier because he could always catch Fluke by jigging. The pier management considered him as advertisement because he would show the novices that the Fluke were there if they knew how to catch them.

By any chance, did any of you old timers out there know him?

Denny