Experienced Tampa Bay captain gets a big surprise in December. ‘Thought it was a cobia.’

Captain Tom Charlton has been chartering on Tampa Bay for 35 years and is still fishing for fun on his off days to stay on top of fish and learn new techniques.

“I’ve been trying to dial in for several years trolling plugs for grouper, I’m usually a bottom fishing guy,” said the experienced captain. “Last Saturday was supposed to be windy and it turned out pretty nice, so I decided to head out and just mess around.”

Launching from his home ramp in south Tampa on the cool mid-December morning, Charlton bumped toward the Port of Tampa where he deployed a pair of deep diving plugs. He started on the first channel buoy can on the deep water edge and headed toward the second.

“One was a 30-foot diving plug and the other a 20-foot. Right as I passed the second can, the shallow plug started going crazy, just takes off! I put the boat in neutral and start fighting it. Luckily it ran the opposite direction and stopped right in front of the fishing pier,” Charlton described.

He did what he could and kept the rods untangled. Being alone, he wasn’t expecting a fish that nearly spooled his reel on multiple occasions. As the fight went on, he was never sure what was on the other end.

“I thought it was a cobia. The fish kept doing the smoker thing. When I saw it after 20 or 30 minutes, I let out some expletives and went to get the gaff out!”

What Charlton saw on the other end was a giant kingfish — one that would make any kingfish tournament angler’s weekend — way out of place in northern Tampa Bay.

In order to get the gaff out, he had to open a covered hatch. He loosened the drag, letting the fish swim around the front of the boat as he put the rod in a rod holder. When he went back to fighting it, the fish was close, but the danger was still high.

“I grabbed the leader in one hand and the gaff was in the other. I hit it and it was so big I couldn’t lift it straight into the boat. There was no one around to help. I walked around to the lowest spot and it took me a bit but I rolled it up and over the gunnel!” Charlton said, exhausted from the fight and experience while doing it all alone.

After fishing for a little bit more with no hits, he headed back to the boat ramp with his giant kingfish’s tail sticking out of the fish box.

While there, another angler helped him get a length on the monster by stacking a pair of yard sticks, coming in at a huge 58 inches. The boat ramp guest also took a picture, but Charlton could barely get the fish off the deck.

“My trolling motor weighs 40 pounds, and this was much heavier than that!” he said. “There was so much meat I basically told all my friends to come get some!”