Tim wrote in to tell us that a fishing trip of epic proportion as the Leviathan Ledge trip needed more detail… Here it is… right from one of our customers/fisherman that was on the boat. Book a trip and be the report or just keep reading them and let epic trips pass you by….
Well to start, Take it from someone who was there. The Trip started off picture perfect. We headed out at 8am on Monday. The sea conditions were a little rough, 1 foot or less. We steamed steadily toward the fishing grounds. We caught Spanish Mackerel, Barracuda, and Bonita on the troll. The next morning seas weren’t so rough. Fishing was pretty good, near zero current the whole trip (when your deep droppin this is ideal because you don’t have to use a ton of weight. Lesters was hand cranking in 1500′ with 2 Lbs of lead). Tile fish were coming over the rail in the 3 to 7 lb range. There were a couple of porgies caught in the 6lb range, and a 15lb Kitty Mitchell. After the coolers started to fill up, Captain Jerry got this evil grin on his face and said “let’s go fish for some sea monsters”. I have to say I figured we were headed to one of his many secret spots to catch some big fish, but I never dreamed at what we were in store for. we anchored up in flat calm waters. When I saw the crew break out 10 Lb Bonita for bait, I figured this was going to be a long day and we were using bait that was way too big. We drew straws and the teams were picked. It wasn’t but a minute or two and they got a nibble. After pulling the bait away from the fish about five times, the fish got pissed and ate it, Game on. after a few minutes they brought a big fish to the boat over a hundred pounds. we all took pictures with the fish then it was time for team two who caught a shark. Me and my 13 yr. son Jordan were on team 3. Captain Jerry re-anchored the boat. He wanted it just right so a big fish had to swim away from the wreck to eat our bait. We sent our bait down 1000′ to the wreck. before we knew it tap tap tap, like a blue gill. The rod started to bend and I began to reel. Big fish on then he let go. My heart sank. We played this game about four more times before the rod bent, and stayed bent. The fish started taking drag. I gave it everything I had. It was about 110 degrees in the mid day sun and I didn’t think I had anything left when bubbles started coming to the surface and you could see this true sea monster coming up and he just kept getting bigger and bigger. When we brought him to the boat and three guys couldn’t pull him in the boat I knew he was big. It took Five guys and four gaffs to bring the biggest grouper the Gulfstar has ever caught into the boat. Around 6′ in length as I’m 5′ 9″. The trip didn’t end there we caught these fish we thought were Toro which has a flat tail, but the fish we caught had a forked tail. They ended up being Golden Eye Snapper. They were so cool looking I kept the biggest I caught to mount it (I do taxidermy). We caught big Ball Bats, There was some really big Golden Tilefish caught, some nice Scamps, schoolie Mahi’s and a Blackfin Tuna. It was so cool to see a marlin come up on a bait and eat it. A 50 Lb Swordfish swam around they boat checking us out but of coarse our baits were 100′+ down, what a helpless feeling. All and all this was the best trip of my life, and me and my son caught the biggest fish of my lifetime and probably my sons also. How cool is that !!!
Timmy V