Got out later in the morning than hoped with only an hour and a half to fish. That, combined with the lack of nets coming out didn't give me much hope. Trolled the inner part of the oil docks to nothing, so decided to head out to deeper water. Lines came down to 90 and 100 despite being just around 8 in the morning to match the fishfinder. Saw a few jumpers and finners. The jumpers were big, but not as numerous in number as last night. The jumpers were basically all 10-15lbs. Passing by a section of calm water bordered with sea weed, I wondered if this was a tide rip that held fish. Seconds after that thought, port side rod bends over hard and comes clean off the clip. Line starts TEARING. The drag keeps coming slowly up, but even at max drag on a TR2000 the fish is still spooling me. A couple jumps confirm what the fight already did: I've hooked a monster. five to ten minutes later, the fish starts to tire and its up to me to bring it in. For the first time in years, I am actually tired bringing a fish in. The net job was a disaster, didn't bring up the downrigger ball, and the net wasn't long enough to bring it in from the stern. One last effort finally gets the fish in the net, just as my hooks break off the line. Just one fish that whole morning, but the quality of fish makes it worth the effort. Weighed with guts, the fish was 10lbs, gutted, 8.7, a half pound over the derby winner. I hope to catch one more that size before seasons end!

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