Eyes as big as ashtrays.
We were fishing our "secret" redfish hole out at the end of the jetties two years ago, probably mid-July and hot as hell. We were fishing dead menhaden on the bottom, using 20-pound line and fairly heavy leaders (60-80 lbs). Picked up a few sharks along the way and not much else-that is until the tide switched and one of the rods bent way over. I scrambled across the boat, grabbing the rod from the rod holder just as an enormous 150+ pound tarpon blew up no more than 30 feet behind the boat, so big she could only get ½ her body out of the water. She was close enough that we made eye contact. I swear on my life this fish looked at me, eyes as big as ashtrays. I couldn't stress that more emphatically without using some strange combinations of some four-letter words.
As soon as he came up, we dropped off anchor and tried steer him away from the rocks-no chance. After he was back in the water, he burned my thumb on a run straight for the jetties, and with a BING-popped right off. This fish had hit the bait I had dropped right under the boat, so when he came up he was really close. I've caught some mammoth tarpon in my time, and I can tell you this thing was a different fish. They don't get that big without learning a thing or two about staying out of a boat after taking some bait. No doubt about it, I was the one sitting at the little desk that day.
-Martin Englehardt
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