Recently, I was speaking with a good friend of mine and as it always does the conversation turned to fishing. He said he had taken his two young sons fishing last week and they had an awesome day. He had picked up a tip from his buddy that had caught some really nice sheepshead and the Charleston Nearshore Reef. The weather was perfect and their hopes were high after hearing the stories of his buddy the week before.
They arrived at the reef and quickly set the anchor. He helped his sons get rigged up with their fiddlers and the lines were out. The bite never came. They tried varying the depth they fished and moved several times trying to find the fish. Apparently someone had forgotten to tell the sheepshead they were supposed to be there and biting. After about an hour of moving and no bites, his boys began to get restless. He knew he better come up with an alternative plan quick before a full-blown wrestling match broke out in the boat. He follows the site and had seen the reports of black sea bass out over the areas of live bottom. Fortunately he brought some squid and he thought maybe they could catch a few just to let his sons catch something. He punched in the numbers for an area of live bottom he kingfishes in the spring and summer and they were off.
The boys had settled down from the boat ride and their interest for fishing was back with the new location. He set up his youngest son Steven, who is 7, with a bottom rig and some squid and began to rig up his older son. Before he could get the bait on the hook of his older son he heard Steven yelling. He looked over to see the 20lb Ugly Stick bent over double. His son was fighting for all he was worth and my friend was not really sure what his son had hooked into. His son reeled and fought for all he was worth and as the leader came to the surface he saw not one, but two of the largest black sea bass he had ever seen. His son was thrilled and they quickly boated the two fish and re-rigged. The action was non-stop for about 2 hours. He spent