As I read Got2Go’s Mosquito Fleet Wahoo report in the Offshore Reports Page I was reminded of a Wahoo trip of my own that I don’t know that I will ever forget. Quite a number of years ago Andy, dad and myself ran offshore for some high speed trolling for Wahoo. It was summer time, water was hot, and our plan was to work the ledge hard with some Wahoo Wackers, Green Machines, and some Giant Tremblers. For those unfamiliar with the Giant Tremblers they are a large rattling plug made by Halco that come standard with two giant treble hooks.
We had just set lines when one of the rods went down. Fish on! Andy jumped on the rod, the fish made a blistering run and for a few seconds we all thought the early morning wahoo bite was on. Within seconds our hopes of a big hoo started to fade as Andy already had the fish turned. Dad prepared to goose the boat into a hard turn just in case it was a big speed demon that was in the process of turning to run straight at us, but not such luck, just steady light pressure. As Andy got the fish close I threw on my rubber coated nylon web “fish gloves” and leaned over the gunwale and started pulling in the wire leader. It was a 15 to 18-pound king that had hit one of the tremblers.
As I got the fish in close I realized that only one set of the trebles were holding the fish and the hooks were within easy reach. I grabbed my needle nose pliers to do a quick boat side release like I had done hundreds of times before. The second I grabbed the imbedded treble with the pliers the fish threw his head and quickly slung the other set of hooks right into the meaty part of my hand at the base of my thumb. Since I was now attached to the fish I grabbed it by the gills with the other hand, threw it in the boat and jumped on top of the fish. Not realizing what had happened Andy and dad looked at me like I was crazy. As they looked down they could see the hook going into the glove and the barb coming back at. At first they thought the hook was just stuck in the glove, but then they realized