Andy Howell with a fat 39-inch striped bass caught in the Kitty Hawk surf using an ultralight Ghost Ship Shredder rod with Stradic 1000 reel and 8-pound braid. This rockfish hit a 1/8-ounce jig and 4-inch paddletail in a trough about 4 feet from the shore, and then ran at least 75 yards out over the sandbar and past the breakers.
Howell ran down the beach about 40 yards or so with the fish over the course of 8 to 10 minutes or so, before finally surfing the fish on a wave into about shin deep water. Just after he grabbed this fish inside under the gill and dragged it up onto the sand, the braid snapped just above the reel. It was a nuanced landing to say the least! A friend up on the pier ran down to the beach and snapped this shot, a personal best for Andy, and within just a couple of minutes the beast was softly revived and released back into the surf.
–ghostship
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