Greater Amberjack

[LuvMyRedDog]

Captain E.J. Barrett, of the Gag Reflex, put me on this AJ on July 5, 2003, somewhere in the Florida Middle Grounds.

Hey Iya, if you assume that I am 8'2, and 375# then can you get the weight of the Amberjack (in ounces please).

[LuvMyRedDog]

Alright, I'm 5'9.5" and 138#. Somebody comment on my fish. Please.

[richhermes]

Nice fish!;)

[OceanSwimmer]

Hey Red Dog!
Tell us more! Give us some indication where you were, the conditions, the depth...the fight....it's great to hear some specifics about that awesome fish. It's a beaut!!!

[Fishkabobs]

Very nice! Your biggest fish?

[IyaDiver]

Nice one LUV,

U are lucky, I just got my first AJ in my life, in fact this is the very first time I seen one underwater. The water today Saturday was 71 farenheit, very cold for me and hundreds of AJ was swimming around my Dog Tooth Tuna area but none bigger than 15 pounds. I thought it was Yellow Tail ( Hamachi ) but I check with your photo, it sure is an Amberjack I got.

I shot one small one. Allow me to guess your fish. I hope the fish doesn't grow thicker much as they grow longer.

I think it is about 39.6 pounds....if AJ don't grow fatter when they are long.

If they grow fat when they are long, it could be 55 pounds.

So tell me how bad I guess...:D

[f94gator]

I'm thinking closer to 30-35 lbs.

[fishsticker]

Nice fish.

From the look of the shot placement, I bet he put up a bit of a fight.

[SLAYER]

40 to 45

[Screen Name]

Heres how I computed that: Photoshop. First, I cut out the picture of the can.........

Never mind. :D

[SpearMaster]

Ok try this one. Take a look at my AJ below. I give you a hint it's 47 inches. And it's 40lbs. Took this sucker with my MT2. Ooh Baby!

[OceanSwimmer]

Spearmaster, where did you get that nice 40#AJ? You're in New York? Tell us more!

[Spearchucker]

Both of those fish are about 30#ers. Their mid section gets much wider once they get past 30#'s

[SpearMaster]

I caught this baby in a Spearfishing contest, down in Moorehead City, North Carolina. I was Scuba diving on a wreck called the Indra. It was in 70ft deep. I was on the bow of the wreck, watching all the bait fish, then all of them scatter and some of them came below us, then overhead, this AJ came from beneath the wreck going after the bait. He came overhead and I shot him. Anyways the fish is on a old scale and it came to 40lbs. And it was verified by 3 people. :)

[LuvMyRedDog]

Alright, here's my deal. It was the 5th of July, I had the taste of stale beer in my mouth, but I wasn't gonna miss a fishing trip. I passed out the night before, on a futon with a fat chick that belched like a man. I was three sheets to the wind, but, again, I wasn't missing a fishing trip.

It took about 5 hours to get to the grounds. The seas were calm when we left but got to about 4 feet by the time we were out. The sun was still up, so we took our first dive upon arrival. I felt a little queasy, but I was excited to be diving.

Let me tell you, it was a pretty dive. I could see the bottom (which was at 115') right after getting into the water. I descended to 75' and I saw this fat AJ and two of his buddies heading towards me. I cursed myself for having a freeshaft on my gun, I didn't think I would see any bigguns on this dive. Shooting him now meant losing my brand new spear and break-away tip. I wasn't sure I'd see the AJ again, but I switched spears mid-dive anyway.

Know that AJ's are stupid! Snapping on my .357 powerhead was like an amberjack magnet. As soon as I swapped out spears these 3 knucklehead fish turned around and came right back towards me, SLOWLY (or so it seemed). Like a fish market, I picked out the largest one and, at about 10' away from me, blammo!

Stoned him good (in the immortal words of White Witch, "It's so nice to be stoned.")! The AJ was a little above me when I shot him. The entry wound was just below the lateral line. The exit wound was just above. I think I got some central nervous system. I know I took out some gills. He didn't even bleed or quiver.

I coulda shot a hundred AJ's on that dive but respected the bag limit. The Florida Middle Grounds is the place to be. "Don't miss it if you absolutely can."

Back on the "Gag Reflex" I posed for the beautiful picture you see above. Then, everything started to zone on me. I couldn't get the boat to stop rocking and, for a moment, I thought the deck and gunnels were breathing. Usually, when I feel sick, I need to use a couple of fingers to coax the wretch out of me. This time, I couldn't get to the side fast enough. Oh yes, the fishing was good after I chummed up the water (actually, hook and line sucked that night).

I didn't piss and moan about being sick, I was stoked about my first big AJ (not 111.8 lbs, but big to me), and I still had a night of fishing and a day of diving ahead of me.

My AJ was about 41". I didn't weigh him, but E.J. Barrett shot one that size about 3 weeks earlier, and that one weighed 62 lbs. (E.J., I'm posting a pic of you and those fish). I'm guessing mine was 55-60 lbs. I'll never be sure so I should tell people he weighed 112# (I should tell people that I'm 8'2"). Who the hell is going to believe that?

Anyway, thanx to all that had nice things to say about my first big AJ. Let me tell you, he did not die in vain. He was yummy. I still have some left.

[fishsticker]

Is that the scent of sarcasm or shit that I smell coming from that story?

Anyway, I have a question: from looking around the post on this forum it appears that many of you use powerheads. They are not very popular here in South Louisiana. I guess this is mainly because any fish taken with powerheads are not eligible for record book status on the LCUD (LOUISIANA COUNCIL OF UNDER WATER DIVERS) board. Do tournaments in Florida or other areas allow their use?

[LuvMyRedDog]

True story Fishsticker. The girl was a cow (but she belched like an extra-large tupperware container). I was hungover, but nothing was gonna stop me from diving. The Amberjack I shot was stupid and slow. And after I posed for my trophy picture, I threw up, then kept on fishing.

Has anyone ever heard of a powerhead tournament? I don't think there are, or should be, any.

Oh yeah Fishsticker, the "shit" smell you speak of is probably from your prolapsed rectum. You may want to have that checked out.

[SpearMaster]

LOL.

[fishsticker]

That was kind of funny. So you need a little verification on my fish weight? I guess you are right, if you compare the two photos, yours sure does look bigger.

Go to “2theadvocate.com” and search for “Aydell” or paste the following link to the article that made the news.

http://2theadvocate.com/stories/070603/out_fish001.shtml

Did I hurt your feelings by commenting on the hole in the gill plate? Grow the f**k up.

You were begging people to comment on your fish

“Alright, I'm 5'9.5" and 138#. Somebody comment on my fish. Please."

so I did.

I wasn’t trying to put down on you or your fish.

[LuvMyRedDog]

I don't need any verification of your AJ's weight. Everyone who saw the picture knows he was a monster. Everyone was totally impressed. And, just to make things clear to you, YOUR FISH WAS BIGGER THAN MINE.

Your post did come across as putting down on me. When you start out a post accusing someone's story of smelling like "shit", then you gotta expect some sort of reaction. If I struck a nerve commenting about your prolapsed rectum, then I certainly apologize . If you dish it out, then you gotta learn how to take it.

[fishsticker]

You are right mine is bigger. You are also wrong, I didn't start shit, but hey thanks for the laughs. I enjoyed the pissin contest.

Good luck and hope you shoot a 150 pounder.

[LuvMyRedDog]

Thanx, I too hope to shoot a 150 lb'er. Now pissing contests, there's something I'm good at. I get lots of practice. I can even spell my full name with crisp, clean lettering (although it's in my girlfriend's handwriting). And, I have to use beach sand, 'cause there's no snow in Florida.

[rigdvr]

does florida not have any certified scales....sounds like yall need a couple.