By Debby Knopf
If you are looking for a great workout, you need to look far out in very deep water. In 110 feet of water in the gulf, I found my complete body workout. We scheduled this day in advance and the weather cooperated for a long run out of Cedar Key, in hopes of big Amberjack. We stopped to catch a few bait fish on the way out, which broke up the 70-mile run. With a few grunts in the live well, we were on our way. It was cold to start the day, so layers were a must.
Upon arriving at the wreck, we decided to make a couple of drifts before anchoring. We made a few drops when our niece got a bite. It took line and was fighting hard. Then I got a bite that did the same thing. We both were fighting to get back the line that continually peeled off the reel out of our control. We thought we both had on huge amberjacks. After thirty minutes, I was torn between wanting it to just break off, but so curious to see what I had. After about 45 minutes, one fish made it to the surface for a look. It was about a 400 pound, Goliath grouper. For me, the Goliath grouper was a myth. I had never really seen one in person. It was huge! We took a few pictures beside the boat, unhooked it, and turned it over for a quick release. I went back to fighting my fish and finally got it up to see that it was about a 150 pound, black tip shark. We quickly cut the line after taking a few pictures, and he swam off.
After a bit of food, I recovered enough to resume fishing. We anchored and released a few small amberjacks and some nice out of season red snapper and gag grouper. Needing to rest my tired arms, we decided to move to another spot. A smooth 20-mile run landed us in 90 feet of water. We drifted, then anchored long enough for each of us to catch our one keeper amberjack. It wasn’t the record I was looking for, at 27 pounds, but it was a keeper! A long day on the water that was definitely a workout to remember! But that’s just my point of view!