Walkin' Jack's Photos

Walkin' Jack is a friend of mine from the WMI board . He's a character, full of wit, a real fisherman, and a good guy. Here's a bull red he took in July this year...but I'll let Jack tell you the way it happened!

" It was a HOT day on Wednesday, July 21, 1999. There was a 12 to 15 kt wind from the SSE. My family was in the middle of our annual one week stay at the beach house. This year we were on Bolivar Peninsula, front row, 40 yards from the surf (Can ya feel it?) During this week the guys, assorted brothers-in-law, nephews, etc can usually be found out on the second bar, taking a shellacking and catching what ever is around. On this day everyone but my nephew and I, the two most intense fishermen in the group, had gone into get out of the sun and rest (what a waste of time).The fishing had gone from slow to stop and I was using my last bait. At 11:30 AM, I hollered over to Jason that I was going to fish up this last bit of bait and go in for a reload and maybe poke a sandwich down my neck. 5 Minutes later, I was in the fight of my life. Several things make this catch seem all but impossible; first of all I was using a cheap $10.00 K-Mart reel on an old 8" Eagle claw rod. I don't like putting my pretty toys in nasty water when there isn't any quality fish around and I'm just "plinking" so I keep some cheap stuff around for those occasions. Also, I was using 12 lb line. The things that helped me in this case were that the line was Trilene Big Game and the leader was one I made myself, mine don't EVER come apart. I normally use 120 lb or 150 lb steel for my drum/red leaders but for the smaller fare I use 20 lb steel and that was what I had on that day. Another unusual thing is that I was using squid. And the piece that was on my 4/0 circle hook was not much more than a little piece of rubber, I'd caught several hardheads on it. The water was full of bait, too, mullet in every wave...so why was this monster interested in a tasteless little piece of rubbery squid the size of my little toe? Also, on my side was the way the fish fought. Normally, a big bull like that will run like a scalded-ass dog. After the pick up they generally run about150 yards...no tricks, no jumps, just a freight train screaming down the track in a straight line. I have had my share of burnt drag washers over the years. Then they stop, make a few lateral moves, and seem to be confused and trying to rest/figure out what to do next. During this time you can get some line back on them, but not all. He will then make another run, not as far but just as powerful. Occasionally, you can get a third run. Well, this guy didn't do any of that. If he had, he'd have spooled me in 10 seconds flat. He just gave me short bursts, followed by time to recover most of the line. He showed me my spool 5 times, 20 feet less line and he'd have been gone. I had no idea what I was fighting. My nephew caught a red the day before, about half that size but it was the only red we'd seen all week. The way this thing was behaving had me baffled...Kind of like a stingray, but it didn't stick to the bottom. Finally, I got it inside the second bar and he came up to the top and we suddenly locked eyes. Eye contact!! That put me in the"zone". The world went away and there was nothing but me and him. At one point, someone yelling brought me back to the world and I turned and looked on the beach and there was a crowd of about 20 people that had stopped to watch the ruckus. They were cheering and yelling advice. I quickly blocked that out and went back to the zone. This was a very private thing for me. I had already been fighting him long enough to kill him. He'd never be able to recover from being that exhausted and I wanted to take my time and not do anything stupid. It would have been terrible to lose him now and have him go to waste.The fight lasted 47 minutes, 11:30 to 12:17 and when we hit the beach we were both near death. The winner wasn't immediately obvious. People were clapping and yelling and slapping me on the back. It all seemed so far away and I don't remember much except sitting there on the beach, trying to make a fist with my right hand and restore feeling in my right arm, and buzzing on the adrenaline.The tale of the tape: The fish was 42 inches, although we never weighed him, no fewer that 15 people picked him up and "hefted" him and it was roundly agreed that he was in the 40 to 45 lb range. That is the biggest fish I ever caught while I was in the water. He was filleted and the fillets were sliced thinly and at an angle and deep fried. You will hear it said that the meat on those big boys in no good...don't you believe it. It just takes a little extra preparation.Sorry for this long note but believe me, it's the short version :-) The fall fishing is cranking up and I'm gearing up. I work tonight and them I'm on vacation till 11/12. Needless to say, I'm pumped and writing this only made me worse. I won't be worth a **** at work tonight!"

Take care, my friend.

Jack

(Gotta love them Texans..."poke a sandwich down my neck"...love that lingo! Thanks Jack, I shared your excitement through the whole fight! Your friend, TimS)

Here's a few more pictures of the fabled Walkin' Jack! Top left is Jack with a couple nice Texas specs...Jack tells me the bigger one, 24", is one of his most memorable surf catches taken in flat, clear water. Above right is a red and a spec, a mixed bag if you will! Immediate left is Jack with some flounder...fluke to us northerners, and he tells me he sent these "just so you don't think all we catch here is reds!" Thanks Jack, I had no doubt about that! Glad to hear you won the latest wrestling match with your PC, they certainly can have minds of their own sometimes! Above is Walkin' Jack with yet another red, this time, as Jack asked, I have him with his hat on, so the glare doesn't knock you outta your chair! Go get 'em Jack...I'm rootin' for ya!