So Monday night, well, evening, I got a wild hair and decided that I would go down to the Galveston Fishing Pier and see what I might be able to catch. I stopped at a bait camp on my way and got a quart of live shrimp, pound of squid, and a pound of small croaker for the surf rod.
As I walk down the pier looking for a spot, I notice that no one is catching anything at all, this was worrisome. I stopped at one of the last spot lights shining down into the water and before setting up my heavy rod I bait up my medium rod that I mainly use for bass fishing (12 lbs test on it). Within 30 seconds I reel in a 12 in trout. The bite continued all night and up until I ran out of bait at around 9 am. Around 745 am I casted out my line with a dead shrimp on it and immediately was hung up on something, but when I moved to the side a little to try and get it unhooked, my line started darting out away from the pier. I wasn't hung up, I was hooked up, to something large. I fought it for about 20 minutes, scared that the line would snap (remember, 12 lbs test)at any time. After the fish brought me down to the very end of the pier it finally surfaced. A huge black drum, I estimate 40-50 lbs. Well, I asked the gentleman at the end of the pier if he had a net, and he did not. So, instead of walking it all the way down to shore (which I wish I would have done) I decided to try and lasso it with a plastic protective wrapped steel cable. I slid the cable up over the pole and dropped it down the line, of course it gets snagged a quarter of the way down. After about 15 seconds of trying to free it, the line snaps and the fight is over. Poor guy has a hook still in his mouth and I dont have a biggest fish of my life.....I guess that's how fishing goes sometimes. Moral of the story, always be prepared.

Dang it!

Dadgum it! Sorry man. If I had been there I'd have lowered my pier net down for ya. Every time I've been to the pier and someone hooked into something large there are always a couple of helping hands at the ready with a net. I always say,it's the ones that get away that lure us back!

Well... I grant you honorary capture. You fought it all the way in and had time to try to bring it up... consider it catch and release.

T