Trophy fish like Wahoo are often caught during the months of May and June each year when we get a push of blue water toward the beaches of Gulf Shores. These fish are known as one of the fastest in the gulf of mexico and can reach speeds of up to 50 miles per hour. Let me tell you one thing, when one bites your trolling lure, you had better be ready for one tough fight.
We were headed back in from an eight our fishing charter where we had been southeast about 25 miles catching Red Porgy, Vermilion Snapper and Triggerfish. We even caught quite a few Red Snapper but had to let them go. Our friend and repeat customer Preston was ready to hang in and fight something big. It was time to head in after a few hours of bottom fishing when we decided to put out the trolling lures and pull them at what we call a high speed. Big Game fish will strike a lure moving as fast as 16 knots, but we were only running about 12 knots today.
We were in sight of land near Orange Beach when we had a strike on the big 50 wide Penn reel. This reel had some kind of pressure on it and it was losing line at a rapid pace. Preston grabbed the reel and rod and began working this fish. We had no idea of what was on the other end. It has been over a year since we caught a Wahoo, so we were thinking that it may be a big King Mackerel. Some friends of ours had just caught a state of Alabama record King weighing 69 pounds a few weeks earlier.
When Preston got the big fish to within 15 feet of the charter boat Distraction from Orange Beach, we could see the lit up colors of this enormous Wahoo. We leadered this fish up to right behind the charter boat when we gaffed it and put it in the boat. It was almost 6 feet long and weight 57 pounds. Congratulations to Preston and his bigger fish.