Late report - headed offshore to some canyon, arrived at dawn. not sure which one it was but we were like 90 miles out. Once we got the 3lb weights down to the mud, It was DROP & REEL, GAFF, DROP & REEL, GAFF, DROP & REEL, GAFF. We had the perfect drift and the BLUE LINES were HUGE, I was pulling up 12-15lb double headers consistently. These were enormous for Blue lines. Had to switch to 4lb weight with a light breeze and good current. But it was the small hit I felt then nothing. All of a sudden the line came tight and it was FISH ON! My "borrowed" AVET had max drag and this was pulling line (thx POP). Pulled me to the rail 3 times and the drag was getting warm. Got out a belt and we decided to chase down the fish as it slowly rose to the surface. 500 feet later we met up with the beast. Gaffed it and found that he inhaled the top cirle hook and fouled hooked himself in the tail. That's why it felt like a pallet of bricks. Weighed in at 43lbs, check that off my bucket list.
Ended up filing (2) 120qt coolers, this golden went end-to-end in the big cooler. TRIP OF A LIFETIME!