2nd GTMO Lunker

It was another one of those nights. Can't sleep went fishin. I traded in my G-ride for a heavy Chevy. At least now if I wanted to I can go more than 23 mph. Either way I took my new used ride out to the pier. Since I have windows and doors now it makes it a little harder rollin out but I figured a way to get my 7ft rods in the car. I just roll down the window and stick em in that way. Either way I got out and the fish just weren't biting. I was trying my hand at artificials but they were not havin any of it. So I went to my old fallback (natural bait). I found out that these little rock hard animals stuck to rocks make damn good bait for little fish. You have to pry them up with a knife though otherwise you'll have no luck detaching them. I looked them up and they are called copepods. Also another good bait is sea snails.You can find them crawling over rocks too. They pop up easy though, no tools required. The only thing is with the snails they are hard as hell. You'll need some wide grip pliers and a slab of concrete to get them out that shell. Once you pry the copepods up you can cut them out of the shell kind of like scooping out an avacado. I put my loadof escargot on a small hook and jigged around some rocks I could see from the shore. Then of course I got my first bite. I pulled in a little nipper called a squirrelfish. Now I had some real bait!. Of course I pulled out the Lunker buster and tossed the whole fish out far into the surf. After about an hour of reeling in and tossing in different spots I figure the big boys wouldn't come in this close to shore due to the humongous lights above. So I relocated to a different spot at another beach. My little bait fish had been beat the hell up and he was no good as live bait anymore so I cut him up into four chunks. The best part to use first is always the head. The head pumps out the most blood on a fish since the gills heart and most of the viscera is tucked right behind it. SO I tossed the head out into the surf and took the next cut and tossed it out a little further down the beach. What's cool about this spot is the locals have set up pvc rod holders jammed in the rocks. Now I don't have to worry about my rod flying into the ocean like before. After a little wait the fellow in the cooler lit into my little rod. He didn't put up much of a fight though. A couple of runs and a few head fakes then a hard lug in. I knew he was big from the feel of the rod but he came in easy. After that the crabs destroyed the rest of the cut bait. The head is also good for them too. They can't munch through the head like the rest of the soft flesh. I loaded this guy up and headed in. I didn't weigh him but he felt like a solid 12 lbs. I'm now a certified threat on land and sea. All fish better beware because I'm still on the prowl...