Sunday, October 22nd, 2006 - South Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
I wanted to tell you about a recent fishing trip to the dam with my girlfriend. It was Sunday about two weeks ago. When we pulled up to the ramp there were pogies everywhere.
I castnetted a few while unloading the canoe. We got to our first spot and I caught a 22 inch trout right away. About five minutes later I hooked into something biggg! It was on my big rod (7" medium/heavy uglystick with 150yds of 15lb mono with a 40lb fluorocarbon leader and a 3/0 owner hook) using cut pogy.
At first I thought it might be a gator because I could not move the fish. I hooked into the fish at about 6:00pm. I was fishing on the west bank about a 1/4 mile from the dam.
This fish proceeded to pull myself and my canoe toward the dam, then across the entire dam. The whole time I am corralling it away from various posts and the buoy line that goes down the center of the water.
By this time I still didn't know what I had on the line and it was starting to get dark. As the fight wore on I finally saw a huge orange tail come out of the water during one of the runs. I knew then it was a big redfish. As the fight wore on, we got better and better looks at the fish, and every time it looked bigger. The spot on the tail was a big as my fist!
Every time I would get it close to the boat, it would take off about 50yds of line and I would proceed to chase it down. It got dark, and we were still fighting the fish with the only light being a small flashlight.
I could feel my line start to fray and I knew I was on limited time. I finally get the fish near the boat and it breaks me off. I asked my girlfriend what time it was, and she said 7:45. We had been fighting the fish for an hour and forty five minutes. Never have I fought a fish for that long. We really had only fished for about 15min. The whole trip the rest of the time we were fighting this fish.
We took several shots of the fish during the fight before it got dark which should be getting developed soon. I will send them to you if they came out.
When it was all said and done, the fish had pulled me and my canoe across the entire dam three times. I had to steer this fish away from the buoy line and several posts many times.
I estimate this fish to be in the 45-55 inch range and probably around 35lbs. I know this story is hard to believe, but I can assure you it is true and this fish still lurks in Guana.
I recently took a job down near Cocoa Beach and live in Merritt Island, but I guarantee next time I am in Jax., I will be fishing Guana lake for this unforgettable fish.
I am attaching the picture of the trout. Sorry for such a long message but I think it is a report worth telling.
Nick Fonder
