Catching a Gulf Coast "Freight Train" By Victor Delgado
Those Gulf of Mexico freight trains are not a rare occurrence for someTexas Coastal Anglers, as Mike Handorf (aka Screaminreel) from Pasadena can attest. He hooked into a big one a few weeks back on a South Texas beach. This group of beach anglers are no strangers to "The Big One". The average fish these surf anglers catch runs 3 to 5 ft, with fish over 6 feet not uncommon. They don’t go light on the fishing gear either - 6/0 reels spooled with 50 to 100 lb line on heavy duty surf rods. They can usually easily horse in a shark in the 6 foot class. This time, his line baited with a sting ray, two large circle hooks and several feet of steel cable left for the horizon and never even slowed down before breaking off near the end of his 600+ yard spool. His only trophy was a couple of burnt thumbs trying to assist his reel in stopping this particular “Freight Train”. There is no such thing as being "over gunned" either as Scott Nelson (aka Old Salt) will tell you. Several weeks ago, he was given a run for his money in the middle of a sunny afternoon. Armed with a Penn 12/0 Reel and 800 + yards of 130 lb mono you would think he could stop a submarine. Apparently not. When his reel started to sing that freight train tune, he had to pour water on it to keep it from burning up! He also ran quite a way down the beach trying to recover some of his line but it was a lost cause... His line broke near the end of the spool also. He believes it was a really big Hammerhead shark, but one thing is for sure.. it was a "Freight Train". And it had no intentions of hitting the brakes. This from an angler that horsed in a 7' 2" Sandbar Shark from the beach fairly easily just a month or so before. Eric Ozolins (aka OZ) from Austin, Texas was lucky enough to stop his "Freight Train" on a Padre Island beach near Corpus Christi. Eric is a regular surf/shark angler who visits the coast quite often to fish the beach. On this particular day, he had set up his beach rig consisting of a Penn 6/0 wide spooled with over 600 yds of 100 lb braided line with an additional 300+ yards of mono, and using a skip jack he had caught himself from his kayak in the surf as bait. He waited patiently for his quarry to show. About 9:15 pm, while enjoying a fine dinner of Ramen noodles after a slow day of fishing, his chance came calling. He heard his reel click once slowly, before he could get up to check it, then his line lit up in a screaming run that broke the Padre Island stillness with urgency. He hooked the heavy rod and reel up to his offshore fishing harness and the fight was on. After an arm pumping battle, he was able to reel the fish up to the second sand bar, only to have the fish decide to make yet another screaming run. Eric said " I have never seen a fish take such an enormous amount of line so quickly!". The reel was heating up fast, and the line was just pouring off as the reel's drag began to go. After running quite a way down the beach attempting to recover line, Eric finally was able to turn the fish and start gaining line after being frighteningly close to the end of the reel's spool. Once the fish was inside the sandbar at low tide, about 30 yards from shore, Eric could see the dorsal fin and tail slicing through the water in the dim moonlight. He immediately thought he had a nice shark on the line. He pulled the leader and the fish up to the beach and was surprised at what he had brought in. There on the sand in front of him lay a trophy 6' 10" Tarpon that was almost 18 to 20 inches in height from belly to back. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever imagine he would land this fish of a life time from the beach! A true trophy estimated at almost 200 lbs. that almost wasn't, had he just a few yards less line on his reel. Pictures were taken, and the majestic trophy released back into the surf, to swim off in the moonlight with a final kick of his tail.
The magic of a screaming reel with a "Freight Train" running wild on the other end is a true adrenalin pumping adventure of a lifetime. Those few who can bring that screaming run to a halt, and turn it around, are sure to appreciate the moment in their memories for long time to come. Here is to hoping you have that chance to hear your Freight train whistle blow!
Article by Victor
Delgado (aka whopperstopper on TX-Outdoors
saltwater fishing message board)
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What
in the heck do freight trains have to do with fishing...? Well, actually
"Freight Train" is a term used by some fisherman to describe "The Big One that
got away". When an angler says "I hooked a Freight Train", what he means is he
hooked into a fish that made an uncontrollable run, they never to slowed it down
or turned it around before either being spooled (running out of line), breaking
off, destruction of his fishing gear, or any combination of the 3. 
