Saltwater Fins

gonfishn

gonfishn

Commander
Joined
May 16, 2002
Messages
2,390
Most of the time here are spent talkn Fresh water fins.. I have never been fin huntn on the great salt system.<br /><br />What do you fish for and what is your biggest catch lb. wise? What fin puts the most push on your line?..Have heard lb. for lb. the cuda is a war horse. Can't imagine say what a fifty lb. fin would feel like..
 
snapperbait

snapperbait

Vice Admiral
Joined
Aug 20, 2002
Messages
5,754
Re: Saltwater Fins

Biggest catch put in the boat was a 35+lbs. bull dolphin... <br /><br />Hooked up on a cuda had to be 5 foot long, nasty cuss bit me off shortly into the battle, all the better I guess.. got to avoid the big teeth.. :D <br /><br />The cuda's a pretty fair fight, but my understanding that the mac-daddy fight comes from the illusive (to me anyway) wahoo.. Fastest fish in the ocean which i believe can swim upwards of 70 miles per hour.. :eek: That will make the drag scream! Kiss your 6500 good-bye..<br /><br />Tarpon too (again, illusive to me) is supposed to be an awesome fight.. Snook is another good one, 12 lbs is my best.. <br /><br />Jack Crevalle, which is a total trash fish that i seem to catch plenty of :rolleyes: , is a very hard pull.. They don't do the acrobatic jumps but they pull like all get out! Had a 15 pounder nearly run the spool out my 4600 twice in the same battle on 10 lbs line.. When the smaller ones school up, their a blast on ultralite spinning tackle..<br /><br />The fish i'm the most proud of was a 7 pound mutton snapper.. Most would say nice fish but no real big deal, which in most circumstances i'd agree with.. On the day we decided to leave the heavier stuff at home and just mess around with ultralites inshore, we get the word that the bite is on, so we round up some small live greenies (bait) and head out the inlet.. Caught the fish on 6 pound test in 65 feet of water over a reef with heavy gulf stream current.. Had to use a 2 ounce egg sinker just to get the bait to the bottom so it would hold.. With all the current and the weight of the sinker working against me, I could'nt hardly feel the bite.. Amazed I actually got the fish up and did'nt get cut off on bottom.. After that, I was done... Nerves were shot but grin'n from ear to ear... :D
 
Fly Rod

Fly Rod

Commander
Joined
Oct 31, 2002
Messages
2,622
Re: Saltwater Fins

Last year in the Bahamas hooked up a nice 62" mahi mahi which weighed out at 42lbs. Nice looking fish ,allot of color until you get them in the boat, then they turn a mustard color. We also manage to catch a couple of wahoo.<br /><br />Here in Massachusetts the game lately are the football size bluefin tuna [100lbs. or less] two years ago took almost 3hrs. with light tackle #40lb test line to bring it to the boat.<br /><br />Striped bass is the favorite game around these parts #25-50lb. which range over 40". We catch plenty of small stripers 28" fish and smaller.<br /><br />And then there is the bluefish that goes to 20+lbs. these are the fighting fish. they are the predator fish and need to use wire leaders.
 
LadyFish

LadyFish

Admiral
Joined
Mar 18, 2003
Messages
6,894
Re: Saltwater Fins

Gonfishn, when we go offshore we fish primarily for King, Ling, Dolphin, Snapper, Tuna and Grouper. The largest fish I ever pulled in was a 58 pound Ling in an all ladies fishing tournament. It took me 45 minutes, an aching back and bruised stomach but worth every minute of the fight I've also caught my share of 30-40 pound Kingfish. Amberjack and Tuna are great fighters and a lot of fun to catch. And a hammerhead shark can pull your arms out of the socket.<br /><br />In the bay we fish for Redfish, Speckeled Trout, Sand Trout, Flounder and Bull Reds and believe it or not the occassional Ladyfish. :p Ladyfish are sporty little acrobatic gamesters and will jump constantly from the time they are hooked until the hook comes out of their mouth. They give an excellent display of aerial maneuvers and are considered to be the “Poor Man’s Tarpon.” <br /><br />The greatest experience fishing saltwater is you never know what you might catch. There are so many different species of fish you are constantly surprised and challenged by the different types of fight each one gives. <br /><br />Its a thrill for me every time we go out. :)
 
C

catfish1

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 23, 2003
Messages
683
Re: Saltwater Fins

for me the best fight i had (and caught) was a white sea bass that weighed about 15lbs, caught on 20lb line in the ventura marina. man those things pull hard! <br />i've hooked things in that same marina that ran so hard and fast that i had to crank down the drag before it wrapped around a pilon or something and ended up breakin 35lb braided line like nothin! we'd do all this fishing from a dock in the marina. and like ladyfish said: you never know what you'll catch.
 
G

gaugeguy

Captain
Joined
Jun 4, 2003
Messages
3,564
Re: Saltwater Fins

Cow stripers are the kick I am on now. Caught several in the 45-52" category last year (30-40lbs). I like to fish bluefish for fun, they pull pretty good. When I was on the left coast, bonito, yellowtail and small cuda on light tackle was a blast. :cool: <br /><br />The best saltwater fishing memory I have is hand netting a four foot king mackerel in the persian gulf. 5 of us dragged a net (at least 200' long) through the chest deep water. We dragged that fish out of the water (what a struggle!!) and it was the first thing other than MRE's (meals refused by ethiopians) that we ate in three months!! :cool:
 
N

neumanns

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Messages
1,926
Re: Saltwater Fins

I have spent many days fishing shark but never got anything but a couple of real small ones and a stingray with a 5 foot span. Caught it from a jetty and fought it for about 30 minutes. It was a blast wish I still had the photo.<br /><br />I caught a 65 lb grouper on a snapper charter. Had a good pull to get it started off the bottom but once I got it started it came decent. The captian was ready to move wrecks when I hooked it, He wanted to cut the line because he thought I was snagged. I was positive I wasnt and also darn glad he started off the bottom before the captian got impatient.<br /><br />When I was a kid I was with dad and family when he caught a twelve foot eleven inch sailfish...proabably only weighed 100-130 lbs but what a beutiful fish.<br /><br />Hardest fish to land for me was some Bonita though. On one of my snapper trips I talked the captian into allowing me to fast-troll on the run in. He told me that they would be hard to land though because he wouldn't slow the boat unless I caught something large. He was right...reeling in a Bonita at about 13knots is a real challange without a belt or a chair. After about four of them I was done. (Bonita are about the size and shape of a football and are very good at not surfacing in a high speed fight.)
 
LadyFish

LadyFish

Admiral
Joined
Mar 18, 2003
Messages
6,894
Re: Saltwater Fins

No belt, no chair? Hope you had a good hernia doc. :p
 
N

neumanns

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Messages
1,926
Re: Saltwater Fins

Thanks for calling me on this one LF...After further review the call on the boards will be reversed. <br /><br />I accept that I occasinally have mental lapses...I just hate when it's in a public arena.<br /><br />There was a crappy hard plastic belt with a lousey gimble but no chair.
 
M

mellowyellow

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jun 8, 2002
Messages
5,327
Re: Saltwater Fins

we were trolling out of Long Beach, CA to Catalina<br />Island and landed a 52lb big eye tuna (baby).<br />hardest fighters have to be big, flat Halibut.<br />hard to pull up a flat fish!
 
LadyFish

LadyFish

Admiral
Joined
Mar 18, 2003
Messages
6,894
Re: Saltwater Fins

I can attest to that MY. I once hooked a stingray in the back, couldn't imagine what I'd caught. Gave me the fight of my life. :)
 
N

nightstalker

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Dec 10, 2003
Messages
570
Re: Saltwater Fins

In 1987, Myself and a fishing buddy hand lined a 804 pound blue fin tuna 40 miles off the coast of Cape Cod Mass. What was amazing was that we caught it while on his 22' Mako. His boat had a double handled whench that we used to get it on boat. When it came over the transom, the stern went underwater until it flopped into the boat.<br />Stalker
 
M

mellowyellow

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jun 8, 2002
Messages
5,327
Re: Saltwater Fins

804lb'er hand lined? :eek: <br />brought aboard a 22' Mako? :eek: <br />drag it home next time.
 
N

NOSLEEP

Commander
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
2,442
Re: Saltwater Fins

No large sharks to catch, no Marlin ,Dolphin.<br />Tuna, Tarpon, Cuda. Biggest salt water fish for<br />me is Chinook Salmon 56 lb.
 
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