MY FIRST AND ONLY HAMMERHEAD
I don't have a scanner. The best that I could do was to take a photo of a photo. It's the only non-slide "personal best" pic that I could find. (film was expensive on a paper boy's salary)
On this particular day, my cousin took some friends and me to Kaneohe Bay to fish aboard his Whaler. We decided to target young Jack Trevally (Papio). We hooked and landed quite a few on surface plugs(along with a Milkfish and some barracuda). But, I like catching a smorgasbord of species, so I decided to bait up a bottom fishing rig.
My pole soon doubled over, and the line went flying out of the reel. I had convinced myself and my companions that I had hooked a 30lb+ Ulua (adult Jack Trevally). I kept yelling " Da buggah beeg!" My enthusiasm attracted the attention of nearby boats, who had pulled up alongside, to see the 'leviathan' I had hooked. When I finally got it into view, it was clear that I had hooked a Hammerhead in the 8 lb. range. Pretty embarrassing, to say the least. I felt like hiding in the cooler. So, next time you take a kid fishing, and 'said kid' claims to have hooked a big one... IGNORE DA BUGGAH!
It was, and is, the strongest fish, pound for pound, that I have ever fought. Maybe, that's why I look so stoked!
Kaneohe Bay. Oahu, '84
P1010408 by
Mo'o, on Flickr