Some anglers are just a little too ready to assume they have bad luck.
Nacogdoches angler David Beckwith often fishes out of Port Aransas for marlin, where he has caught a fish in excess of 14 feet in length. But on a recent fishing trip, he thought his line hooked some vegetation instead of on a fish.
“We were trolling for marlin 75 miles out in a bunch of grass, going kind of slow at only 7 knots,” he said. “I was reeling in and my pole started bending five feet from the boat, so my first thought was that he had wadded up on a bunch of grass.”
Pretty sure of his assumption, Beckwith turned to his fellow anglers and told them, “I think we’ve got some grass hung up on this one.”
As Beckwith got his 16-inch black lure up to the surface, he realized he had caught a wahoo.
“He was about 65 or 70 pounds, and he fought me but didn’t jump at all,” Beckwith said. “It’s kind of rare for a wahoo to hit while trolling like that so close to the boat.”
Even though it didn’t turn out to be the marlin he was targeting, Beckwith said he didn’t mind the surprise.
“I just like to catch them — I mean, they’re one of the best eating fish in the nation.”
