Caught a bonnethead today

thundermug · 07-01-2006, 03:31 PM

I've been fishing the Jax beach pier lately and finally got set up for the big boys off the end of the pier. Our pier is a 1/4 mile long.
Got my mudhook out around 125-150 yards (oh yeah it casts that far) then got my fighting rod hook up with a quick release and baited the treble with a greenie. slid that thing down and about 2 hours later I saw a couple of swirls in the water, and then I saw the qick release shaking, then BANG! SQUEEEELLL! goes the clicker!
I had 600 yards of 25 pound test line and it was just pulling SO HARD. I could figure out what I had hooked up on. All I could think was it had to be a submarine from Kings bay submarine base.
Finally I got it up to the pier and one of the guys in the new anglers assoc. we started showed up with a gaff. well, he missed and somone else came over with a landing net.
One word of advice...never try to land a 6 foot shark with a net. That fish is still in the water...

nc bearhunter · 07-02-2006, 09:41 PM

i fished the pier a lot in the 70's and saw some petty big hammerheads caught there. how has the kings been biting there ? it was in the 70's that a guy caught a 700lb+ hammerhead off the pier.

thundermug · 07-03-2006, 03:59 AM

theres been 6 or 7 kings caught so far. the smallest was around 8 pounds and I think the largest was 53 pounds.

nc bearhunter · 07-05-2006, 08:37 PM

sounds good we used to catch a lot of kings of the st augustine pier when it was not so short. sure is a lot of fun for kings off a pier. have you ever met anyone from the old fl shark club they use to fish off the pier a lot.