Fish of a lifetime...

[Smokey]

Fantastic fish Josh.

Great story. truly an inspiration for the rest of us, or at least most of us.

[dsafety]

I'm not sure what to make of Mr. Bellcon's derision of Mr. Darkhorse's incredible catch. My first response was that this was just another lame attempt by some guy with fish-envy trying to blow off some steam. But maybe not.

Josh is a pretty smart guy. This thread has drawn more responses in a day than most do during the entire time they are posted. Could this just be a clever ruse, some sort of a collaboration to get all our juices going?

Stranger things have happened.

Whatever the truth is Josh, that is one major fish. Way to go! Your exploits are kind of like a bunch of carrots being dangled in front of all of us lesser fishers. They serve to motivate and help keep our hopes up. Please keep doing what you do.

Bob

[jflyfysh]

you wear those waders fishng on a kayak??

[JOHN K]

Josh,

That is one bad A$$ fish. But I can't believe there was no mention of a boat side brawl with that monster. I know you know where to find 'em and how to catch 'em, but bringing that fish in the boat without any bruises is crazy. . . are you the fish whisperer?

Alabama

[THE DARKHORSE]

Originally Posted by JOHN K

Josh,

That is one bad A$$ fish. But I can't believe there was no mention of a boat side brawl with that monster. I know you know where to find 'em and how to catch 'em, but bringing that fish in the boat without any bruises is crazy. . . are you the fish whisperer?

Alabama

Warning: Sorry about the nipple shot below, but my waders were full of water .

More than any other fish, I wish I had the moments from color to final thrashing on video. I know all fish look bigger doing those last few circles below the kayak, but this fish looked ridiculous at color. Imagine sinking a gaff into a cow sized Tuna, but no deckhand behind you following up with a second gaff. Everything was going smoothly, perfect gaff shot in the stomach bought me a few precious seconds to slide not one, but two game-clips through her gills. With the fish secured I put away the gaff and went for the Halibut bat...then all hell broke loose.

From experience I have my game-clips tethered on a short leash when fishing for Halibut. I used to have a 4' rope, but now I use no more than 1' for safety purposes. After having my sonar face knocked off deck like someone kicked a field goal, they really float! Another time a monster jumped across my deck and broke off my bait-tank outflow tube. I'll certainly never forget the pre-game clip days, wrestling a monster on deck and having my gaff go through the neoprene waders into my leg...dangerous fish when they're that size. Some stay calm, but others will sink your battle-ship!

This particular fish came close to sinking my battle-ship, real close. It took everything in me to keep that kayak right side up. I had a firm grasp on the game-clip rope and by the time she quit thrashing my waders were full of water in the chest area. I had a brand new custom wrapped Super Seeker jig-stick with four other rods and reels, none of them leashed. That beautiful new Super Seeker was probably what gave me the energy and focus to weather the storm. When she finally quit, I hit a couple home runs with that bat and let out a scream of joy!

A friend heard my screams of joy and came over to take some photos. I knew she was over forty, but I told Paul she looked short. Paul replied, "are you kidding me"? "She's long". Paul just got back from out of town and sent me one photo, I thought I'd share.


A little blurry, but it's not easy taking pictures with violently thrashing, battle-ship sinking, pissed off giant Halibut.