The nightmare goatfish!

Today's Catch Was A Nightmare Goatfish!

Yesterday i went to the same spot & spent the day there till nightfall & caught a nice Bluefin Trevally. Today it was storming with high winds & sporadic downpours. So i stuck it out. I used a Lamiglas 11' Insane Surf rod popular on the East Coast of the USA for Strippers. I paired it with a Shimano Spheros 6000 SW spinner.

My bait was frozen shrimp tied to the hook using Atlas Mike's Miracle Thread. I spent the day under a tree with my umbrella. Then latter in the afternoon i heard the bell go off twice. But no run? So i brought the line in expecting a bait stealer took my shrimp. Turned out i hooked a Nightmare Goatfish on a BKN#22 circle hook. I was amazed the fish could swallow that!

If you eat the head of this Goatfish (some consider it a delicacy) you will suffer from nightmares. I've eaten the meat before & it's delicious. But i decided to release it back. The fish was tired from being over-powered on such a big rig & was weak. So i resuscitated it by "swooshing" it around in the water (on the vid i almost slipped on the muddy embankment while going down to C&R the fish).

Going fishing relieves stress & i usually will either release my fish or give it away. I was glad that this tired Goatfish sustained no damage & it swam off in a burst. A great way to spend a rainy afternoon:)

https://youtu.be/qPLkyYv0CJY