I am not the kind of guy to put someone on a pedestal but one of the best junior anglers I know of is more than deserving of this honor. I have been fishing with Cory McGuire who is a 16 year old 140 pound soaking wet Cypress Lake High School student for a good three years now. We actually cut our teeth together learning a lot of our current fishing techniques side by side. Cory and his fishing pals John Landry and their good friend Joey have been tearing apart many of their top notch guides and other older counter parts in many of our local Redfish and Snook tournaments including myself. For some reason Cory and I always seem to find a way to get some great catches in during the summer. The next couple of days I am reporting on is no different.

      It all started on a warm July summer day. I arrived a little late at John's house to pick up Cory and John. We headed out of the Miserable Mile and to our Ladyfish stomping grounds. We were in hopes of catching some Cobia later on in the day but I had to get some big baits for our Offshore journey. We loaded the wells in short time with 15 or so nice Lady's. We then went into the sound and found some nice schools of Threadfin and quickly loaded the wells with bait. Off we went offshore. We fished one of the local county marked reefs where Cory and John had seen Cobia from the day before. We anchored over our spot after a couple of short non producing drifts. Cory is the first to drop a bait down as usual. He was also the first to get pummeled and broke off. John and Cory fished with Threads and I grabbed a Lady to see if something big was down there that wanted to eat. Sure enough I get slammed, the fish had some shoulders to him and went directly for the reef. I wasn't having anything to do with that reef so a clamped down on the spool with my thumb and turned him back away. He tried a couple of more times but I put it to him. He turned out to be a Boga Bottoming Jewfish. We didn't know they were down there until I got that one.

     Cory was quick to grab a Lady because he wanted in on the action too. John stuck with the Thread and caught and little 18 inch Grouper. Meanwhile Cory and I both dropped down at the same time. What do you know we were both thumped at the same time. I was only fishing with my 15 to 40 EXT and I knew it wouldn't hold up to the pressure I could have put on that fish so I tried to play it safe but failed. Cory's fish was on for about 3 seconds and he was busted off again. I knew we had no prayer to get in one of these fish on the small tackle we were using so I told Corey to grab the Man O' War and Trin 30 combo with 200 pound Fins Braid. Cory put on a nice Lady and dropped it down. BAMM!! he was slammed instantly. The huge fish drug him right down the gunnels and nearly overboard. John ran over and grabbed his shorts to help him regain his balance. Cory was doing a great job thumbing the spool keeping the fish from getting in the structure but he made one critical mistake. He tried to reel that big fish. When he did the gear the handle was connected to broke in two pieces. Cory tried to make due and roll the spool with his hands but we knew that wasn't going to work and he soon lost the fish to the structure. Now we were down a reel and several rigs but Cory's spirit was no where near broken. We unspooled the 200 Fins off of the Trin and spooled it to John's Daiwa on a Star Rod. Cory rigged and complained the whole time how tired he was from what the last fish had just done to him. I didn't know if he could handle another beating. He grabbed the rigged rod and put on one of the lively Ladies. Click on the link Huge Jewfish Gallery to view the new Photo Gallery.

     In the blink of an eye Cory was in the battle of his life. The lively Lady was inhaled almost immediately. Cory did just what I told him and thumbed the spool as hard as he could which kept the large fish from getting in the rubble. Unfortunately for Cory all of the torque that was meant for the drag went straight to Cory. He literally skied to the front of the boat. I had told John before Cory hooked up that it we got into another one we were going to drop the anchor and pull the bruiser away. John tossed the anchor rope and I reversed the engine. John grabbed Cory to keep him from going over and we made headway. We were able to get the Behemoth out of immediate danger. I think Cory thought things would get better from that point. Boy!! was he wrong. Cory spent the next 20 minutes of his life doing everything his 140 pound body could to get that fish in. He almost gave up two or three times but John and I pushed him and he made it through the breaking point. Eventually we saw color. The fish was absolutely huge. I mean it went 200 plus pounds easy. Most people think they would be elated to land a fish that big, it really is a true accomplishment. However Cory just wanted to collapse. He did a great job and I can not think of a better junior angler. Just look at the size of this fish. Truly amazing for a 140 pounder.

     Can you imagine being a 140 pounds battling a fish that weighs a hundred pounds more than you do and not being able to give any drag? I would think at some point the fear for your life would overcome the will to land the monster on the other end of the line. Cory did it and did a great job as well. It is the largest fish I have ever seen someone of his age and size ever land. He truly accomplished on amazing feat. Make sure you stay tuned for Part II of this story coming soon.

 Make sure you check out the new fishing magazine called GAFF Magazine. Anyone that has had the chance to see it has been very impressed.