Beaumont Enterprise reported first: A record-breaking amberjack, weighing more than an average-sized supermodel, has been caught in the Gulf off the coast of Biloxi. Fishermen fought with the massive 126 pound catch for 30 minutes — much longer than usual for that type of fish — before hauling it aboard charter boat the Lovin’ Life.
“He knew right when he hooked it he had a big one, he could feel it,” Captain Chris Denton said of the lucky fisherman. “I thought it was a big grouper, its mouth was so big,” Denton said.
The fish was caught March 22 by Don Wheeler from Laurel, Miss., in an area of the Gulf known as Horseshoes Rigs, where the water is 200 feet deep in some places.
The group of 11 on the boat had switched to live bait, with mackeral they’d just caught on the hook, when the action started.
“It wasn’t down (near the bottom) very long and the rod bent over,” Wheeler told gulflive.com. ”Then it was on and the rush of a lifetime began. At first, I thought I had a big shark. The fish went down like it was headed for Cuba.”
Wheeler, a medical salesman and high school friend of the boat’s owner, said he was hanging on for dear life for the half-hour struggle.
“Basically, I was holding on to the rod because the fish was putting a tremendous strain on my arms, back and legs. Amberjacks tend to pull like a donkey and I did my best to hold on. But my adrenaline was too high to quit. ”
Eventually, the greater amberjack came to the surface and the crew pulled it aboard with two fishing gaffs, then it was back to shore for the weigh-in.
“We knew the record was 124 pounds, 4 ounces,” said Captain Chris Denton. “But we didn’t know how big ours was ’til we weighed it.”
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