Moe Smokes Rene's 14/0

The year was 1984 and Rene who by now was established as the top dog on south beach pier had a group of followers that traveled with him where ever he went.On this trip it was Seaweed (Mike),Jimbo, and a few others that went down to fish Bahia Honda bridge for a couple of days.Back then some of the guys would do anything Rene asked them as long as they had the chance to fish with him and learn his brand of contagious shark fishing.It was April and Rene had heard all the stories on the docks around Marathon that a giant hammerhead they called Old Moe was eating there tarpon next to Bahia Honda bridge.The day they arrived at the bridge they set up camp all the way in the middle of the bridge where the deepest channel and highest part known as the hump is lies.Rene sends Seaweed who is more of a diver then a fisherman and Jimbo to spear some shark bait under the bridge on the slack tide.They come back an hour later with two tarpon between 20-30 lbs and once rene sees the bait he is estatic and tells them "he's here I feel it"prophetic words indeed.Rene always had an uncanny ability to read the waters and the seasons and many times predicted what kind and size shark would bite on any given day.So Rene prepares a special rig that he says is the only way to target Old Moe.He uses 50 feet of #19 wire with three swivels and three big Mustad hooks,one hook in the tarpon's jaw,one in it's midsection,and one in the tail.Rene who has his Penn Senator 14/0 packed to the brim with 130 lb dacron lays out the line on the bridge and hurtles the tarpon over the side and it lands with a loud clap on top of the water.A few minutes later Rene has become a maniac screaming "i told you",I told you he was here-he's 16 foot"the giant hammerhead Rene predicted has materialized before his eyes and has swallowed the entire bait in one gulp.Rene sets up right away and Jimbo is shouting at him "why did'nt you let him eat it"?and Rene tells him he swallowed it whole.Rene is pinned against the rail right away he can't hardly lift the rod the giant beast is exerting so much pressure as he takes off in a south course away from the bridge.Rene is in his moment expieriencing what he lives for, the thrill of the fight.His reel is getting hot and cold water has to be poured on it to keep it cool.Rene seems powerless against the giant hammer that is making the line on his big reel disappear at a speed he has never seen before.A big hammerhaead is strong enough on it's own but in the strong currents that flow under the bridges in the keys they are that much stronger.So as the reel is getting lower on line Rene now in his trance begins to slowly tighten down on the star drag to try and slow the beast down ,but of course to no avail.Jimbo starts telling Rene to back off the drag the roller tip of the rod is smoking and as the line gets closer to the botom the line simply broke on a roller tip that was seized up and not spinning.Rene is furious and promises to come back and catch the monster that just toyed with him .Rene's next few times at the bridge involved using two 14/0 reels tied to one leader to try and stop Old Moe but his chance would not come till some years later.

The old Bahia Honda bridge the arrow showing "the hump"the deep channel where we fished.

Rene with Jimbo and Nelson on his left, and surfer Carlos on his right.

Rene getting ready to get "SMOKED"