Goliath Grouper on Surf Gear (short story) 550 LB ?

Hey guys,
It has been a while since I have caught anything worth posting. October was depressing for me with a couple dropped baits and uneventful trips to the sand. I have not been out shark fishing since 10/19/2014.

I have been getting into kayak fishing. It seems like it will be really fun once I get the hang of it and it should provide some great shark bait. I am building a live well and setting up some gear. No matter how fun that it, it will not beat Sharkin!

Have seen some hammers while out on the yak. They chased away all out bait two trips ago. Pretty cool to see them in action tearing stuff up.

I went out last night, SOLO, to test out my new tipper/medium shark combo. It is the Cabo 80, 65 LB braid, on the 11'4" Tsunami Airwave elite, heavy action, 4-8oz, 50LB rod. Excellent rod!

I casted out a half of blue runner at 9:06PM. High tide was scheduled for 9:46PM.

At 9:40PM there was a tiny hit on the rod, I assumed a sharpnose or bluefish. I opened the bail and then waited a few seconds while the fish took some line. Then I closed the bail and let them take line on loose drag. After several seconds I set up on the fish. He took off!

Keep in mind, this is the first bait on my new combo so I wasnt so sure everything, How tight do I set drag? How hard do I pull back? etc. I knew that it was going to be four turns of the knob to start the fight, but I didnt know anything after that.

The fish starts his run, I go tight on the drag. He continues, I set the pressure tighter, and tighter, This rod is now parabolic. I had not seen this on surf gear before. I typically fished the penn torque rod which has a slower action.

I was gettin killed on my feet so I took the fight to the ground. Now my butt and the rod butt are in the sand and I am pulling back, hard. HE is still taking line, and I need to try and stop him before the reef or that braid is toast. I put on some more pressure, slow the run and turn the fish. I regain a good amount of line before his second run.

His second run was just as strong as his first and I was excited! At first I thought Eagle ray, or big lemon shark. then later I thought giant ray or hammer, since we have seen the hammers hittin the bait 400 yards out. OR maybe a bull shark. I know I only had an eight foot rig so I thought maybe the fish was foul hooked. The retrieve was much slower after his second run. I get him close and guess what, He aint done yet!

After 30 seconds into the fish's THIRD run, I had to lock up the rod with my elbow, like a headlock. My back and arms were starting to ache so while I had the rod locked up, I grabbed my left shoulder with my right hand and just held on. The rod was bending from just above the fore grip. This surf rod looked like a jigging rod with a tuna directly under the boat.

This is about 30 minutes into the fight and I am almost willing to accept defeat, anticipating a line break. Before I locked up the rod with my elbow, the rod was literally pulling away from my fingers. I had the run slowed down and I had enough line on the spool so I did not adjust the drag. It was already the tightest I have ever fished on surf gear and I already had thought of a broken two piece rod. I get the fish turned around again!

I crank back a lot of line, this time with rhythm and ease. The fish starts a fourth run and all I am thinkin is, WTF, are you for real!!!! I am by myself, no witnesses, my biggest fish on the line, probably a hammer based on my bait and what we have seen around, I need to get this done!

I lock up the rod with my elbow again and hold on, when he slows, I pull back, lean forward and crank, and repeat. I have finally worn him out. I get him in and he is on his side in about a foot of water or less. It is now 10:21PM. The fight was 41 minutes. I cant identify the species in the dark. At first I think I am looking at the belly side of a bull and when I get the light on him, I see his bottom jaw and head but there is a wave rolling in so I dont see the body. I think to myself, Damn that is a big fish head, and when the water receded, I saw the whole fish and fully realized the magnitude of my catch. This thing was HUGE.

I taped him carefully from the mouth to the end of the center of his tail, 90". I cut the wire for my 12/0 hook *(couldnt reach my hook between his head and the sand) and I cut out another hook, like a 16/0 with 5 feet of 250/300 LB line.

I took some pics with my Blackberry (dont laugh) and then I started dragging him back to sea. I am 240 LBS, the guy everyone calls to move stuff, and I could barely move this thing. I was able to grab him by the upper jaw with my right hand and under the lower jaw with my left hand and hoist him back to sea, one pull at a time. I had to time it with the receding waves, In the end, I pulled when he flopped, it was a team effort.

Safe and healthy release.

I got this fish off the beach by lighthouse point. I have heard stories of goliath's by the bridge and marina and I can only assume this one came out for a swim.

Foot for scale: Size 12.5 shoe