King Mackerel from Perdido Pass - a year ago (June '24)

Here's my picture of a king that I caught from the Perdido Pass a year ago today. What was remarkable was that I caught it on a #8 3X hook, using an LY that I caught with a sabiki rig from the boardwalk. I caught it on my spanish mackerel rod, with 20 lb test.
The LYs were so thick, you could walk on them and the strike was almost immediate. It ran to the middle of the channel before I was able to turn it and wow - what a fight! When I got it in close, I saw that I had foul-hooked it near the pectoral fin. Afraid that I might lose it flipping it over the rail, I asked my fellow fisherman to snag it with his spoon with 20 lb test and we'd flip it over the rail together. It worked! I've had kings hit my bait in the pass before, but this was the first and only one, to date, that I've been able to land.

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