Thread: Cold Mil crew does it again

Our friend Tom Eberly aboard the 4th cold mil took 1st place in the shark category of the Alabama deep sea fishing rodeo with a 380lb hammerhead. The fish won by 196lbs.

Thank you Jeb, here is a picture of the fish. Some complicating factors made this a dramatic and memorable catch, I will post the entire story when I get a chance.

Omg!!! They killed henry!! You lucky bastards!! Lol.
Good riddance!!

Dayum! That's a monster, Congrats Tom! Can't wait to hear that story. You guys are killin' it this year.

Well done Capt Tom!

Congrats to your uncle Larry too for catching TWO tarpon (good for 2nd place).

WOW! Thats a lot of shark steaks!

Awesome catch, look forward to hearing the story!

For this year's ADSFR, I fished with Philip Taylor (owner of Cold Mil Fleet) and his wife and sons aboard the 4th Cold Mil. My dad, uncles Gary and Larry, and Dennis Rice fished on the Play Penn.

On Friday, team Cold Mil ran dolphin cruises as usual, opting to start fishing the next day. Everyone on the Play Penn went tarpon fishing early Friday. Larry caught 2, Dennis caught 1, and Gary caught 1. After Larry landed his 2nd, they dumped him off at the beach so he could ride in to Dauphin Island and submit his catch. In the tarpon category, being the first to enter a catch gives you the edge in a tiebreaker. This has come into play every year since the catch and release format started.

On Saturday, both boats headed out into some crappy weather. When I think of the ADSFR, I always think of big waves and thunderstorms. 4th Cold Mil went out to some bridge rubble where we caught the winning shark and many others last year. We only had a couple decent bites all day. A live jack crevalle came back in half, and a sting ray side yielded a tiger about 200 pounds that we released. Everyone on the Play Penn had a similarly slow day with no successfully caught tarpon, though my uncle Matt Leon joined for the day and was catching some not-quite-rodeo-sized sharks. He did have a couple decent shark runs on big baits that did not end in hookups. The approach to Perdido Pass that afternoon was one of the worst I have ever been in. The outgoing tide resulted in some massive waves, honest 6-8 footers right there.

Sunday morning, we decided to stay in closer on the 4th Cold Mil due to the slow fishing Saturday, the rough conditions, and the report of a few shark bites from the Play Penn. We first went to the 3 mile barge, site of numerous ADSFR Sunday morning bull sharks. Philip had a fish take his bait for a run and drop it. Philip just put his rod back in the holder and a few minutes later the line took off again. He set the hook and the fish started a powerful run across the bottom. We tossed our anchor rope and eased the fish away from the reef. When I saw the leader start coming up, I was expecting a nice bull. Instead, a monster goliath grouper rolled up to the top! As we contemplated the best release strategy, the hook straightened out. I believe we did get some good pictures and I'll share those when I get a copy.

Meanwhile, Play Penn did manage another tarpon, bringing Larry to 3 (he successfully turned in 3, why it lists him with 2 we don't know). They also continued to get decent shark bites. Getting no more strikes on the barge, Philip decided to bring us in near the pier. After we anchored, he said "I have 100% confidence right here." I was feeling 100% sure I should've stayed in bed.

After an hour of chumming with no strikes, Philip turned to me and asked "Think we need to be closer in?"

"I think we're good," was my reply, and 5 seconds later I hear Philip yell "Your rod!"

Because I was using a small bait, I left the rod in the strike position instead of free spool. Good thing I did, because this fish took the most blistering first run I have ever seen. About 2/3 into the 340 yard spool, I took a risk and pushed the drag on the TLD 50 to full. We were running about 30 lbs of pressure at strike so at this point the reel is doing more than it is intended for. I was in complete panic mode watching the gold showing under the last few layers of line as the anchor buoy went over the side and Philip got us moving at 17 knots toward the fish. His boys scrambled to get the lines out of the way, one or two got in the prop, but we managed to stop losing line with less than 30 yards left.

At this point, we are thinking there is a real beast on the end of the line. None of the sharks we've dealt with previously have taken so much line so fast. I can't help but wonder if I might get to knock my uncle Larry out of the record book. Gary and Dennis, nearby on the Play Penn, decide to come join us since they are still stuck at one tarpon each and don't seem to be in contention in that category.

Shortly after they get on the boat, the fish surfaces, still a hundred yards away. I can see that it is not as big as we hoped, and is probably foul hooked. It continues to slowly take line unless we are backing down on it. However, this is mainly due to the wind and swells pushing us away from the side-hooked fish. The shark looks sluggish, so I tell Philip to back down hard and get this over with.

As we near the fish it starts to surge again, and the reel abruptly rips off the rod. The TLD50's frame has finally succumbed to the overly high drag setting. As I hold the still functioning reel the rod lolls uselessly on the line. I back off the drag and discuss with the crew how to properly overcome this hurdle.

While Philip expertly maneuvers the boat to maintain light pressure, I handline the fish, attempting to coil the line in the boat. Gary and Dennis grab another rod and begin stripping line off its spool. When I have plenty of line in the boat, I cut both lines and splice the shark line onto the new rod and reel. I get my harness clipped back in, and we resume the fight.

Finally, we get the boat to the fish and Gary grabs the leader. Dennis, Philip, and I manage to get a small flying gaff in its mouth. With the help of a chain hoist and a few sturdy straps, we put the fish in the boat. The fish went for 380 lbs, good for first place 2 years in a row for the Cold Mil crew.




Tarpon Addendum: Since the tag and release format started, 2 boats have dominated the tarpon category, one being the Play Penn. The 1st and 3rd place winners, Hayden and Brad, make up the other team. For the last 4 straight rodeos, I think all 3 places have been from those 2 boats.

Great read, thanks for sharing! Congrats again to y'all!

Great story!