Sam's Sow on Light Tackle

We went offshore Sunday to do some bottom fishing and enjoy some great sea conditions that had been a long time coming. Jim was using my heaviest gear when Sam hooked up on his tiny spinning rod. It doubled over and his drag screamed. I chuckled to myself and thought "here we go again". You see Sam has a history of fishing with under sized equipment and I love to give him a hard time about it when he inevitably loses the big one. But this time the light line held and after several sizzling runs Sam worked the fish ever so slowly to the surface. When I saw the sow snapper I couldn't believe its size and that Sam had landed it on such light gear. I became a little sad as I realized that I would never be able to bust his chops again for his use of baby fishing gear while bottom fishing. Sam became very happy for the same reason. ... We vented her and she swam away strong.