Many athletes from Slowtwitch have contacted me, wondering if I would detail the strength training program that has lead to my 24 inch arms, rippling abs, treetrunk quads, winning smile and hairy chest. Thus, I present to you Dr. Phil’s Key West Hemingway Strength Training Program ™.
Go into the backcountry with Capt. Dave and catch a bunch of bloody, tasty looking baitfish.
Go out to the sand flats 11 miles off of Key West. Chop up some of the fish and toss into the drink.
Attach particularly savory fish-head to your line and throw it in.
Try not to crap your pants when very large, very dark colored things start circling your boat.
Hang on.
Keep back straight and pole tip up as 150lb lemon shark runs like hell.
Keep hands clear as hungry and very pissed off shark comes boatside. Use appropriate tool to de-hook the sucker and return him to the deep.
Get cocky and repeat.
Think you are a badass and cast for a particularly large shark.
Hang on tight…for a little over an hour, wondering what the hell might be on the other end of the line.
Ask Capt. Dave if he is working the trolling motor too hard trying to keep up with what feels like an undersea volkswagon on it’s way to Cuba.
Try not to crap pants when Capt. Dave says the motor is off, and whatever we are hooked into has just towed our 25’ flat boat a little more than a nautical mile.
Hang on for another 30 minutes.
Decide to cancel your snorkeling trip when you bring a 9 foot / 350lb (estimated) lemon shark boatside and Capt. Dave goes “Holy crap, Doc. That’s the biggest shark we’ve ever caught.”
Cut line before beastie decides Dr. Phil is next on the menu.
So there you have it. Special thanks to Capt. Dave of Dream Catchers Charters for a great day on the water, and helping me to return with all of my limbs intact.
Surprisingly (at least to me) the current world record lemon shark of 386 lbs was apparently landed on a fly rod after a fight of approximately an hour, on 16 lb line.
This lead both the captain and I to wonder aloud if we had a contender on the line since it was such a pig to bring in on somewhat heavier gear (30 lb line, 60 lb shock leader, 6 in. steel, and then the circle hook). Unfortunately, we didn’t have a live well big enough for him (or a boat with an opening transom, for that matter), and even if we did, there was no way we were going to be able to get him into the boat.
Hell of a fish, though. Catching something like that has been a dream of mine since I was about 5, and my mom used to read stories to me about Mundus’ exploits off of Montauk. I’m glad we released him unharmed, although certainly pissed off
No offense intended, Justin. Dr. Phil was officially off the clock this week for the first time in a couple of years. I’ll start working through the backlog on Monday
one time I was in a canoe with my wife in the Keys somewhere, I had her hanging on to a paddle stuck in the sand, while I cast for a bonefish. When the sharks started circling the boat she let go of the paddle for some odd wifely reason… a 9’ shark is awfully impressive seen from a 15’ canoe…
My brother got a bronze whaler shark on the flyrod in N. Australia, took him an hour, and that pup was a mere 140lbs. I have no idea how you could land a lemon shark that big, that fast, on a flyrod. Maybe they drove the boat over it and gaffed it green…
