March 17 Worst Drop in the History of Fishing

Twenty five miles from where I stood beside a OBX Pond yesterday, 200-400 lb Bluefin Tuna busted top water plugs cast on spinning tackle. Arguably the GREATEST FISHING on PLANET EARTH right now is occurring right off Hatteras and Oregon Inlet. As a side note, the charterboat Godspeed, off Hatteras, dropped jigs into a subtle mark on their Fish Finder. A short time later, the crew marveled at their catch. Golden Tilefish. One Golden Tile is a fish of a lifetime. On this day, the Godspeed boat hit the motherlode and brought in 6 Golden Tiles. They weighed 30-40 pounds each. All of this knowledge weighed heavily on my jealous mind yesterday. While "fish of a lifetime" were being hooked like Goldfish in a Shot Glass, I stood by "fishless" Ponds and tossed pitiful baits to non-existent fish. Dammit..... So I geared up for a BIG COMEBACK last night. I was gonna get a SIGNIFICANT FISH last night or at least I was going all out with effort. Realistically, I had visions of a trophy Tautog, or even a strange trophy. In the past, I have seen such oddities as Monkfish and Atlantic Torpedos swimming around the Ferry Docks in late winter. I was going to get something out of the ordinary. I could feel it... So I baited up with fresh Menhaden and quickly had.... Nothing. I leaned my rod against the rail and wandered off. An hour later, I picked up my slack line. I gently pulled tight. The line was alive between my fingers. It pulsed. Once. Twice. I quickly picked up my rod. Tightened my drag. Reeled down and sharply set the hook. My rod bowed deeply. I could feel my 80# powerpro popping off snags. The weight was incredible. The rod tip bounced deeply. It hung in concrete pilings and scattered rock. One last pop and my line was free. The fish surged heavily. Reluctantly it rose. Peering into the brown, windswept water I saw length. Nice. Then my fish broke the water. I reeled down and in one quick, smooth motion I lifted my quarry over the rail and onto the Ramp....... Then I knew. I had gone into my personal record book. The worst drop ever. On the top hook was a 5 lb Conger Eel. ON the bottom hook was a medium large Oyster Toadfish. Incredible in its Badness. Double Negative. Bluefin Tunas and Golden Tilefish this was not.... Later I caught another of each. Total Catch for the Night: 2 Conger Eels up to 5 lbs and 2 Oyster Toadfish