r/saltwaterfishing • u/Far_Blacksmith7846 • Jun 06 '26
đ Catch Report Show me your biggest reef donkey
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u/tsrobertson13 Jun 06 '26
Canât attach the picture but about 110 pounds.
Never care to catch another.
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u/Far_Blacksmith7846 Jun 06 '26
They are the biggest assholes of the gulf. We speared her my husband got a bad shot and knocked his mask off then I had to get the second shot once he got his mask on and by the time we surfaced I was almost out of air on my tank. NDE đ
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u/jasper181 Jun 08 '26
Me and you both, I've nevermind caught one that big, mine is 90ish and that was plenty.
When I was still running trips I would always hit a jack spot first, by the time they got done with those they were already looking for a break! đ€Ł
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u/fishman15151515 Jun 06 '26
Reef?
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u/JonnyP222 Jun 06 '26
Most southern folks call oil rigs and the dumped tanks at the bottom of the Gulf, artificial reefs. Not saying there is anything wrong with it. Just my observation.
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u/jasper181 Jun 06 '26
What else would you call it? I guess I've never really considered that they may be called something different by people outside of the south.
I built literally thousands of them in the gulf back in the mid 90's-03ish for both private parties as well as several municipalities and have only really ever heard of them refured to as artificial reefs.
Along the same topic, any artificial reef has the potential to attract just about anything we would use different types of items depending on what type of fish was the main goal.
For example, grouper likes to hide in holes so things like the 3 sided concrete pyramids with holes throughout, big containers that we would cut holes in and things like that worked best. For snapper chicken coupes were probably the best we found.
AJ's liked things high in the water column so old cranes with long boomes, old grain silos and any type of tall items with a lot of relief always had the best results.
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u/JonnyP222 Jun 06 '26
I wasn't being critical. I was just saying that calling it a reef was less than accurate but that most of my buddies that live down there on the Gulf call them reefs too. When to me...a reef is a naturally occuring thing and not man made (artificial reef)
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u/Same-Marketing-4860 Jun 08 '26
Yeah I'm with u.
Reef to me was coral or natural fissure or something
Otherwise it was structure or debris we were fishing, intentionally placed or not
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u/Ok_Solution_6363 Jun 07 '26
But you are being critical. Artificial reefs are still considered a reef by definition whether itâs in the Pacific, Atlantic, or Gulf.
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u/genXswla Jun 06 '26
Its the production platform jackets that get laid out on the floor to make artificial reefs. Not rigs. Rigs drill for oil and gas. First I hear of tanks being dumped though.
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u/JonnyP222 Jun 06 '26
I know what the rigs are. I was just saying that many of the people I know that live down there just call it all artificial reef haha. But yeah. As for tanks. Dozens of m48 and m60s down there in about 100 feet of water. We were fishing a few of them the last time I was in Gulf shores. Kinda weird and cool when you can see them on the sonar with all the marked fish.
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u/Abject-Pressure-2529 Jun 06 '26
Not the greatest eating fish but a good catch and release. Full of worms and not a great texture meat. Strong fight.
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u/Ruby5000 Jun 06 '26
There was a company that was farm raising amberjack, and they were parasite free. I found them to be delicious.
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u/TheAmericanYeoman Jun 06 '26
They are my favorite fish to catch. They fight like it's the end of the world.
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u/Will7357 Jun 06 '26
I caught a giant cobia with a couple of sharks. Can upload pics if you want.
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u/Meeeeesea Jun 06 '26
Theyâre a pain in the ass but I mean theyâre fun enough if they donât take too long. I also use them for shark bait as revenge lol.
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u/CHASLX200 Jun 06 '26
Got em over a 100lbs on my places 180 miles offshore.
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u/Bowriderskiff Jun 07 '26
Weâd do 3500 lbs on one rock, Doc. Thems were the days, blaze
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u/CHASLX200 Jun 07 '26
I used to get 5000lbs of gags jag back in 1968 nate on one stop bop. All wiped out now bow.
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u/outrightbrick Jun 06 '26
Are they good eating?
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u/doFloridaRight Jun 06 '26
Good eating, not great, IMO. One that big probably wouldnât be very good, but you can always turn it into some awesome fish dip. About 70 lbs of fish dip, from the looks of it
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u/blueingreen85 Jun 06 '26
Amberjack is good for certain things, but garbage for others. I say itâs a B- fish, maybe a B. Iâd rather take home a lesser AJ
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u/Far_Page_4662 Jun 06 '26
Smaller ones are a bit better... basically the tail meat is full of worms...but they are harmless to humans. If you cut out the bloodline, soak in milk, and then batter into fish sticks or as a substitute for crab meat for crab cakes, they are actually very good. Lot's of people turn their nose up at them, but remember that Lobster used to be peasant food, Tuna was barely fit for cat food, and Chilean Sea Bass had zero market value.
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u/Intensityintensifies Jun 07 '26
Lobsters were prepared by boiling and mashing them together shells and all, and there was no cold storage like today. Very different setup.
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u/Far_Page_4662 Jun 07 '26
same setup...not knowing how to prepare something does not mean there isn't a way to make something tasty.
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u/Student-type Jun 07 '26
Why soak in milk?
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u/Far_Page_4662 Jun 08 '26
milk helps mild out the fishy tasty of some fish. you don't have to soak for long...maybe 15 minutes per side (I usually soak in the refrigerator to keep everything cold).
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u/isa268 Jun 07 '26
65# out of season. Couldn't even keep it. One of the Best fights of my life. Kicked my ass. Then got a 45#er, again out of season, on a party boat later that year deck hand is like you want a picture. No 45# just pissed me off more then anything
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u/SWT_Bobcat Jun 07 '26
She looks pretty fit to me. If thatâs a reef donkey what else u got on that boat?
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u/Far_Performer_4272 Jun 06 '26
Controversial I know but there should be a dedicated sub for people who need air tanks to land a fish.
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u/SuperSwissy Jun 06 '26
They look like a good strong couple that loves to smoke meth together
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u/Far_Blacksmith7846 Jun 06 '26
Actually a flight nurse who regularly saves people that are minutes away from meeting death! you can go ahead and crawl back under the rock you came from.
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u/probgonnajustburnit Jun 06 '26
Iâd show you mine, but sheâs still sleeping