Everybody likes to pose with the big fish.
And Monday was no different as Capt. Tony Davis on the Anastasia backed in Monday at HarborWalk with a big haul of amberjack. But there was one big amberjack, about 40-plus pounds, that everybody claimed — at least for a photograph.
I went through about four or five folks posing with the fish before I got down to the actual angler who reeled it in.
Terry Turcotte of Ontario, Canada, was the angler who pulled in the big amberjack.
When asked if it was the biggest he's ever caught, he was quick to say, "Oh yeah. It was hard to reel in."
One of the other guys on the boat said, "He kept calling for a defibrillator."
Others that posed with the fish were local angler Lisa Parchment and her brother Mark Helminger, who was visiting from Wisconsin. The way they took hold of the fish, I just thought they had caught the whopper AJ. Lisa said they were taking the photo in fun and sending the photo back home to play a joke on their brother.
All in all, the dozen anglers from Freeport, Canada, Wisconsin and St. Louis, Mo., pulled in 12 amberjack and a few mingo.
"We had a good day," said Capt. Davis. He said they were fishing about 24 miles out and that they tried to hook a few mingo and triggerfish on the way back in.
"I saw a lot of fish (on the monitor) they just wouldn't bite," Davis said. "I think the water is still a little cool."
Capt. Chris McConnell of the party boat Destiny took out about 48 people. His group reeled in a few amberine, mingo, 20 red snapper and a few triggerfish.
Tom Gosetti of Nebraska who was on his first deep-sea fishing trip pulled in a big triggerfish and red snapper.
"I haven't been fishing in over 30 years. It was a lot of fun," Gosetti said.
Ray Sparks of Missouri also got one of those big triggerfish, along with red snapper and mingo.
"It was fun, but I wish I'd had it on a small spinning reel," he said, noting the fight would have been more fun. "I got the triggerfish on the first drop. It kind of got me excited.”
And big fish do tend to get folks excited — during the fight and back at the docks when it's photo time.
See you at the docks.