Biggest, fastest, toothiest fish I've ever caught out of a kayak.

[FishingAddict]

Posted this in freshwater by accident:

Went fishing to Panama City Beach for the first time this weekend. I have never fished offshore with my kayak before this weekend.

I went with the "Jedi Master" of fishing: Shoalbandit. Thanks to him, we had an amazing trip!

Long story short:

My first kingfish ever:

We never saw any oil, but oil is pushing the frigate birds in (they were following my baits):

I ended up with the big fish of the trip (thanks only to the excellent instruction from my friend.) I was paddling around with a live hardtail when it sounded like my kayak got rammed by a powerboat. This kingfish was about 4 feet long and probably weighed around 35 pounds:

The fish hit so hard it actually broke the flush rod mount on the kayak. It blew my mind how fast these fish could pull out 100-200 yards of line.

I did not have anyone to help me land this one, and after I figured out how to pull it on the boat, I had to give it the figure 4 leg lock to keep it from flipping back off.

Coming back in, the extra weight of the fish on the bow caused the bow to plant when a wave picked up the back end- and it dumped me. Fortunalty, with the help of Shoalbandit and folks on the beach, I did not lose anything. The fish caused quite the stir on the beach:

I don't keep but about 5 fish a year, but I decided to keep this one. It's a memory I'll never forget!

 

[PaulD]

That's very cool!

 

[Paymaster]

Good Deal! Congrats!!!!!!!!!

 

[Danny Leigh]

Great pics and story Randy!

Laying on the sunscreen a little thick?

 

[Chris H.]

Kings are extemely fun !!! Love catching them!

 

[tommy jacobs]

I love eating those Kings, I dont know why a lot of people dont eat them??? Alot of people dont like Amberjack, I love them too???

 

[fishinmama]

Nice King! And from a kayak!!! Wow! We caught several last week from our boat. They were our firsts too and we were amazed at how they could smoke our reels! Congrats!

 

[oldenred]

nice!

 

[wharfrat]

smoker on the yak! congrats! there's a group of guys target them off south jax and ponte vedra beach and do pretty good as well.

 

[jonkayak]

Good job with the king. I bet the sleigh ride was a blast.

 

[XTREME HUNTER]

Congrats on a nice King

 

[FishingAddict]

Great pics and story Randy!

Laying on the sunscreen a little thick?

Yeah, I have had at least a dozen suspicious moles removed over the years, some that were moderatly "evil" under the microscope...so I don't take any chances anymore.

I had no idea, however, that I had that much on. I put some on at 5 AM- a kind that is used for athletes who do Ironman type endurance workouts and is not supposed to sweat off. Well, at about 1 pm I put some more on just in case- and well, as you can see, the stuff lived up to it's name- the old layer was apparently not gone yet.

 

[FishingAddict]

I love eating those Kings, I dont know why a lot of people dont eat them??? Alot of people dont like Amberjack, I love them too???

Yeah, I have never had it before, but I like it. I got about 15-20#s of meat off of it.

Funny thing about amberjack- I brought home some tuna, mahi, and amberjack after a day on the water and cooked a little of all for the family. My wife is picky, and she liked the amberjack the best. I liked it a lot as well.

 

[grim]

Kings and AJs both eat just fine. AJs are actually one of my favorites, but kings should only be eaten in moderation due to high mercury levels.

Awesome catch out of a yak.

 

[Bryannecker]

Thanks for sharing! The photos are great.

Yak fishing is becoming so popular that WFN on cable has a show all about it. Give it a look.

However, the way you guys do it for real is the best way.

Thanks, again, for your post.

Capt. Jimmy

 

[G Duck]

Nice!

 

[oxbow]

Now that was a good fishing story, thanks for sharing. That was a hard earned fish.

 

[How2fish]

Outstanding report and pic's Congrats on that smoker king!

 

[grouper throat]

Nice fish and great story. We throw all the kings back but the guys think I'm crazy when I say I like grilled AJ over any other grilled fish(including mahi).

 

[SouthGa.]

Nice king!