THE FISHTAIL YOU PROBABLY WONT BELIEVE... and some serious GoM AJ Jigging 4-18-10

[DoubleA_FL]

lets just start it with this photo and then ill give details...



In addition to that we also had a 10 to 1 AJ catch to keep ratio, of AJ around 30lbs. Which was a GREAT time!

Thanks to Topper, without his numbers and knowledge we wouldnt have had nearly the kind of day we had.

Nowwwww, the back story...
So when i got into jigging i bought a trevela, put a god awful cabo on it and that was my first jigging setup. well now, with my customs and BlackHoles the trevalas have been un geared and stacked in a corner.
Well, something that was bugging me was that i didnt have any pitch-bait-rods when i got into schools of fish. SO i decided to throw a sustain and a circle hook on one of my old Trevalas and take it with me because you should always have a pitch bait rod. well, since i had to send my two black holes back to Kil, i only had my 400g and 500g JPR rods to jig with on this trip. So i cut the circle hook off and tied a jig onto the Trevala because i needed every rod i could get.

Well, with five custom rods on board(mine and Toppers) what rod slayed fish 2 or 3 to 1 all day? the Trevala. hahaha.

So Whitaker(who is now a member on 360, this trip closed the deal ) was up in the bow, dropping his jig down on our second spot of the day... he's waiting and waiting and waiting for it to hit bottom. eventually he throws the bail and start to pull and sure enough. He caught bottom. I look at him with a confused look "did you catch bottom" in sort of a "you jack*ss, how did you manage that" sort of tone. and he says "i think i did" completely dumbfounded by how it happened. Then all of a sudden the rod bends over and the drag starts screamin. he looks at me "it aint bottom! whatever it was had to pick it up on the drop!"

total fight time was about 20min. we got a belt on him and got him into the stern so he could fight it better. Then the boat handling started, fisrt to get him into the stern, then keep him from getting the line caught on anything, eventually to get the fish out from the engines because it was doing death circles - for a second there we thought we had a FL State Record Black Fin

And Topper called it - Wahoo and a big one! 62" 60+lbs(it maxed my 60lb bogagrip out).

i just want to take an extra minute and emphasize what this fish was caught on gear wise. Shimano Trevala 6'6" MH Spinning Rod (TVS66MH), a Shimano Sustain 8000 with PowerPro 60lb braid, 40lb ANDE Flouro Leader with a 120g Shimano Long Jig(Blue/Silver). i hand tie the assist hooks with 500lb Kelvar Line and SJ-41 hooks. Needless to say, a walking Shimano ad. The Sustain was a trooper. Putting out legit drag the entire time, nice and smooth. I am VERY happy with it.


among other fun stories was RIDICULOUS topwater AJ action - Topper thought i was stupid for throwing a Baby Runbah(SP?)(pink, sinking) at them, but boy did they LOVE it!

Im sure the guys will chime in with other stories and Topper can add any photos he has. The one photo that i am REALLY disapointed didnt come out was our first drop of the day that netted a QUAD hookup! ill post it anyways, its just totally blown out.

So im thinking next time Shimano should sponsor us, because we sure do rep the product. and rep it well!


weather was crappy, but thats what rain gear is for.








Our Quad hook up on the first drop!


The JPR 400g JM Acid Wrap gettin pulled on!




Our Trevala - tearin it up!


speaking of a walking ad










Gman - youd be proud. Topper forced your tradition on all the new guys


and the top water bite starts




the trevala, slayin again


one of two Topper 100g Customs on the boat


Hello Eastern Tackle


JPR AND Eastern Tackle


aaaaand boated






My coffin box almost wasnt long enough


Following the Wahoo








Top water is fun


exhausted and happy


i didnt manage to smile in any of these. hahahaha


yum yum yum

[Sea Draggin]

WAhoooooooooooooooooo on the jig. Sweetness.

[Nauti Natured]

Thanks for the great report! Where were you fishing out of?

[DoubleA_FL]

Thanks for the great report! Where were you fishing out of?

we went out of St Petersburg, FL(Tampa Bay).

[Agitated88]

Awesome report...

[austin ensor]

awesome report...are you jigging on wrecks ???

[jaxbunker]

awesomne trip! wahoo on a jig is def a accomplishment

[Jared D]

Nice report. Love to see the striped missle on the dock. Looks almost as good there as beside some grits on a plate.

I fish the other side of the sand bar. How far a run do you guys have to make? 100 foot is 30-35 miles off Jax.

[DoubleA_FL]

Nice report. Love to see the striped missle on the dock. Looks almost as good there as beside some grits on a plate.

I fish the other side of the sand bar. How far a run do you guys have to make? 100 foot is 30-35 miles off Jax.

about the same - we were fishing 140-165 and thats about 40-50mi offshore.

i didnt know jax didnt share the same ledge style coast the rest of the east coast has. so you feel our pain with our long runs. i hate east coast guys that complain when they have to run 20mi! hahahaha

[Ponce]

Great report, wahoo on the jig is SWEET.