Went down to St Marks with a group of buddies for the last few days. One of the guys had this once oversized red on the line and after 10-15 minutes of fighting it, the red had finally started to wear down and come towards the boat. Out of nowhere, his line snapped and huge pool of blood formed and this was all that was left of the bull red. I know it's not a turkey but thought yall might like it.
Wicked predators, I think sharks are so cool. I wouldn't want to swim with them though
Looks like you needed a bigger boat.
Awesome "hunt"!
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That shark sure messed a nice Red!
Sharks, natures feeding machine.
I have been a fishing guide and recreational angler along the Gulf Coast of NW Florida for the past 25 years. I can tell you that you have no idea just how many are out there that you never see.
I mean thousands... Big Bull Sharks, last year had a hammerhead around 18 ft long under the boat eating tarpon...
I have had redfish, jack crevalle and a catfish my daughter caught all been chomped in two at St. Marks. We were really into the reds one time and had to move along because the bulls were eating them. Funny to see a redfish go airborne. Only one cause of that-the man in the grey suit! I refuse to sit there and hook them only to have them stolen by the bulls - let them catch their own the hard way. But you are gonna lose one occasionally - old man I fished with called it paying the tax man.
We had had enough on one trip and took along a rig to handle the bull. Caught a huge mullet in our bait net and rigged him on a floater. We chased that bull all over the place but finally touched the leader after about an hour on one that was all but 8 feet. We wore his arse out - but he was probably there the next day.
Sucks you had to toss him back and feed the rest of the fish to him (or his cousin).
I was fishing in Big Cove and was easing along - looked down in the clear water and said "Oh look, a huge shark". My nephew stepped up on the deck and said that ain't a shark - it is a gator sitting on the bottom - it was HUGE. 9+ feet.
All of these people come down here to PC Beach and 30A and go swimming...
if they only knew...
At Steinhatchee a few years back, I saw a big one fully breach the water a few years ago when my buddy had a trout on. The shark's head looked at big around as a 35 gallon barrel and was long. Looked like a bull with the flatter face but it happened quick.
We were in 2 boats and it was later in the day so the beers had been flowing for awhile and we were fishing really close and having a good time. The shark breached behind our boat and was only about 20-30 feet from their boat when it breached, if it would have landed in their boat, it would of made for a great story.
I have never seen 250 yards of line unspooled that fast. His reel sounded like it was about to catch on fire.
I've had trout, ladyfish and others hit by sharks, but that was the first bull red that I have seen. Course, I've never seen many big reds caught.
Been diving off and on since 1974, pretty much every summer for the last few years in the northern Gulf out of PCB. Have been from one end of the Caribbean to the other. Have been with divers who have seen sharks, have been told by other divers that " one went right behind you ". HAVE NEVER SEEN ONE UNDERWATER. They are amazingly shy much of the time and will move off when the first divers hit the water quite often. I know they`re out there just beyond visibility range!
Went Sea Duck hunting with Jeff Coates, the Pit Boss, off of Ocean Drive ,Md. one January a few years back. He rotated three black Labs daily on his hunts so as not to wear them out in the sometimes strong currents of the Atlantic. I noticed he left the dogs in his super nice full sized dog box kennel when we left the dock. When we got the decoys out I asked about the dogs. He said he had to bring them each time he went hunting so as not to keep his wife awake by leaving them home. He went on to explain that a few days earlier, on a hunting charter, one of his labs was headed back to the boat after finishing up a retrieve and he noticed what looked like a bunch of trash surfacing back a ways behind her. Upon better inspection the whole boat realized it was a shark. Not just any shark, but a 14 foot Hammerhead! The fear that he experienced while watching his dog swim back to the boat ahead of that maneater was a feeling he said was one he never would experience again! And that's why we slipped anchor and made our own retrieves while knocking out a 4 man limit of Scoters !
Quote from: Turkeytider on May 18, 2020, 03:23:29 PM
HAVE NEVER SEEN ONE UNDERWATER.
Come dive Jupiter, FL. Bulls, tigers, hammerheads plus many others. The speargun going off is like ringing a dinner bell.
Quote from: Crghss on May 18, 2020, 09:34:02 PM
Quote from: Turkeytider on May 18, 2020, 03:23:29 PM
HAVE NEVER SEEN ONE UNDERWATER.
Come dive Jupiter, FL. Bulls, tigers, hammerheads plus many others. The speargun going off is like ringing a dinner bell.
Precisely why I don't hunt underwater!
Quote from: Gobble Nole on May 18, 2020, 02:34:09 PM
All of these people come down here to PC Beach and 30A and go swimming...
if they only knew...
You ain't kidding. I live over in milton and fish navarre and pensacola a good bit. I dont hardly swim at the beach, and definitely not in the bay or sound. We use to wade fish alot. I gave that up after I had a big bull between and the shore and only about 3 feet away.
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I spent 5 years in the florida keys spearfishing around sharks. When I'd mention to someone where I was spearfishing they would say-ohh that place is too sharkey. Well the reason the sharks are there is cuz the fish are there. Anyways the best grouper i ever had was one that got half eaten by a shark, it bleeds them out to where the meat is super white, almost as white as a new white tee shirt, Im not sure if it can fix up a red fish like that but its sure to improve on a red.
Had that happen on some nice grouper and snapper, pity.
Quote from: roberthyman14 on May 18, 2020, 10:12:26 PM
Quote from: Gobble Nole on May 18, 2020, 02:34:09 PM
All of these people come down here to PC Beach and 30A and go swimming...
if they only knew...
You ain't kidding. I live over in milton and fish navarre and pensacola a good bit. I dont hardly swim at the beach, and definitely not in the bay or sound. We use to wade fish alot. I gave that up after I had a big bull between and the shore and only about 3 feet away.
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When I was in high school me and my buddy ( whom I turkey hunt with now!) would go early morning surf fishing for specks, reds and anything else in the early morning in the Gulf. It was gorgeous! We`d wade out through the trough between the beach and sand bar. Never really though much about those "shapes ", some of them pretty good size, moving through the troughs between us and the beach! Now, being the old guy I am, I almost shake just typing this! Lord help....!