Monster Samson Fish!

Check out this huge Samson fish ('Sambo') that I caught off the rocks on the south coast of Western Australia a few months ago.

I had been fishing all day with my brother. We had caught a few little trevally, a small carpet shark, but really nothing to write home about. We decided that it was time to go, so I wound in my big rod (which had been out with a live bait on it all day), and turned around to start packing up.

While doing this I - for some unknown reason - left my light rod propped up in the rocks with a couple of small baits on. Next thing I know, the reel starts screaming and the rod is bending over like a whale has grabbed it!

I jump over and grab it, thinking "yes, finally!", but not really expecting to catch whatever was on the end - the reef was terrible and the rod only had 20lb line.

After a few minutes fighting the fish it really wasn't doing a whole lot. I wasn't gaining any line on it, but it wasn't really taking a whole lot either. At this point, I was convinced that I had nothing more than a big stingray. Over the next 45 minutes I fought the fish, but I never really believed that I had anything more than a ray. It was sluggish, didn't really take a whole lot of line, and was almost impossible to move.

When we finally saw it coming up out of the depths, all we could see was a huge pale shape. I said to my brother "it's a f$&ing stingray!" and he turned around to finish packing up so we could get home before it got dark.

However, a few seconds later the fish came closer to the surface, and I got the surprise of my life - it was a monster Samson fish - the target species of the day! Although I have been fishing my whole life, I have never seen anything like it before. The sheer size of the fish was incredible, and to catch it off the rocks made it that much better!

Managed to land it after a bit of a struggle, and I simply couldn't believe it - the thing was as big as me! It weighed in at just over 30kg, and we are still chewing through it now.

Moral of the story: you don't need a big bait or heavy gear to land the fish of a lifetime - just a bit of luck!