MOVE!! Jet Ski Mob Blocks Channel As Fish of a Lifetime Tows My Kayak!

An EPIC kayak fishing battle with an enormous fish was made more challenging by a wall of jet skis blocking passage under a bridge while the fish towed me down-river. The battle with the fish is as intense as it gets!
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[@saginawdan]

I've been fishing for 60 years...THAT was one the best fish battles I've ever seen! Thanks!!! 👍👍👍

[@tomweber8729]

Old man and the sea 😂 Classic

[@tomweber8729]

That made me laugh John 😎🎣

[@mikem29]

I'm so glad the jetskiers were courteous great video I think we all wanted to see the fish as much as you

[@tolpacourt]

They shouldn't be blocking the channel at all. Everything free in America!

[@josephmcguiness6452]

New Yorker yelling at the locals to get out of his way cause he’s on a fish in a kayak. Classic. Lol. And I’m a ny er

[@donjuwann5868]

How much would I have to spend for a kayak outfitted like yours?

[@guenthersteiner8163]

@@donjuwann5868John is using an Old Town Sportsman autopilot, it’s a $4500 motorised kayak

[@carlhanson7312]

The strength of that fish is absolutely astounding. Nothing like being the bobber!!😆

[@toogirthy7677]

Respectful jetskiers, your lucky day😂

[@philtarbox8256]

Now THAT is what tarpon fishing is all about!... those jumps just get your heart beating like nothing else can... good job all the way around on that one John

[@edwardcoysh4836]

The nicest jet skis I've ever seen. They usually jerks

[@eriverany8441]

Wow.. those jumps were insane!. And I have to add ... you are a class act, my friend. I can tell you from experience that that whole situation could have gone horribly wrong. I'm happy that everything worked out for you and the Jet Skiers. I've unfortunately had some bad run-ins on the water dealing with some really ignorant anglers. Nice to see mutual patience & respect prevail. 🙏 🤝

[@davidkuperschmid5274]

Remarkable the hook stayed in so long under that much stress. Great patience. Fun to watch. Thanks!

[@rascaligan8122]

At least it gave you the courtesy of jumping and showing you how big she is! Haha good work sir!

[@johnrudy9404]

This fight is the reason Tarpon is part of the holy trinity of game fish, inclusive of bone and Permit. Wild ride.

[@goldstandard3714]

5-minute slow clap standing ovation. Awesome video brother. Thank you

[@tomasonatali3148]

The best video and catch. Looks like your water skiing off the back of that fish.

[@v.hillegass4351]

Awesome, awesome video Mr. Skinner! You are truly living your best life! Keep the videos coming.

[@randolphbehm877]

When I have a good weekend of fishing I send my mom pictures of my catch. Whether it be smallmouth, or stripper, or flounder, or tautog. No matter how good of catch I have she always congratulates me and says “That’s really nice, but you ain’t no Skinner…” This video and all of your others leave some really large shoes to try and fill. Thanks for the videos and the knowledge sir.

[@dansiegel1874]

What does she think of the strippers? 😂😂😂 I know you meant Striper...

[@TomMendoladrums]

What a battle! Great play John. Let the gear do the work and finesse the fish. Monstrous!

[@JoseSilveira-newhandleforYT]

What a monster! Epic fight, John! Too bad you couldn't land it, but it was an asymmetrical battle with light gear against such a trophy. Wonderful footage, though!

[@JohnSkinnerFishing]

If that hook hadn't pulled I would have had it within a minute or so. It was ready. Oh well. No complaints!

[@JoseSilveira-newhandleforYT]

@@JohnSkinnerFishing Agree, but it was spectacular, and nobody can take that way from you! You even have the footage to prove it 🙂

[@larrywhittaker9901]

SPOILER ALERT ⚠️

[@larrywhittaker9901]

THAT FISH TOOK YOU ON A TOUR OF THE BAY

[@JoseSilveira-newhandleforYT]

@@larrywhittaker9901 Yep 🙂

[@FloridaFishingFriends]

"I'm not the one in charge here" LOL So TRUE! Good Job. FFF

[@GregorsOutdoors]

Made me nervous when you traversed through the mob. They did as you asked. Pretty cool. Epic fight. Those jumps will be etched in your memory forever! Instant classic man!

[@scootersays]

That was awesome! Congrats John!

[@larrycarr6545]

Nice to see them move for you. And great rod work, great knots and great line! Perfect camera work too and that jump….incredible!!!

[@seachild100]

Wow, what a fight! Excellent content as usual. Thanks John!

[@SuperChadbeck]

I love how excited he gets cause if you fish for big fish as i do then you definitely know this heart pounding experience

[@reelsaltkitchen]

Hook pull or not, that was awesome, John!!

[@nozzledrich]

Stop John the mob seems to be pretty well behaved. Mob🤣

[@robtopham6095]

Like Moses parting the red sea... except with fish and jet skis! Nice work John, your arms and shoulders had to be aching after that.

[@rayflynn7942]

when I saw the size of that fish I was a small bit worried for you john😅 The phrase " we're going to need a bigger boat" popped into my head 😉

[@gordonshaffer5560]

John, I'm surprised that you're not using one of those external cell phone battery boosters with a USB port to power your camera. They're cheap, some have both USB A and USB C ports and you can plug your camera's charging cable in and your camera should run off the external power supply for hours. I do this when I set up my camera for an overnight time lapse shoot. Something to think about as your camera has run out of juice several times during the best stuggles with fish. Anyhow, great fight, awesome fish. Thanks for keeping us in the hunt. Tight lines brother.

[@twisted8221]

Wow that was crazy!! John nice meeting you at surf day. Thanks for signing my book and the picture. Ended up picking up a 10'6 odm frontier x and pairing it with a van staal vs200. Thanks for the help. Definitely enjoyed the seminar.

[@JohnSkinnerFishing]

ODM - good!

[@doncardinal912]

In LA, we call that a Cajun Sleigh Ride. By that much, we've all been there more than once.

[@captsunny9946]

John, in my humble opinion, in the fleet of hands-on, excellent, insure fisherman, you are the command, master chief!

[@billwallenstein3387]

Nice one Johnny! Those big ones are something, you had a real jumper! Well done

[@rayhollingsworth2588]

That is totally insane!!! I couldn’t imagine having a fish that big hooked on a kayak 👍

[@toddpeterson9557]

Dude, this a cool ass video, Its fun watching you fight them. Thanks for making it..........

[@fortunatefishing]

Thats epic man you kept your cool so well around those folks , like you said you cant even make this up sometimes - those jumps in the beginning were heart stopping so cool

[@papasnook]

I’m watching your video thinking “that’s a big azz flounder”. Scenery looked too familiar. Nice work! Glad you got on em’.

[@indeep6431]

"That's tarpon fishing" is exactly right!

[@bobbyk3469]

If this video doesn't convince people to pick up that Dark Matter rod, I don't know what will.

[@Drufus6753]

I got one for my son for Christmas. Realized we would be fighting over it while chasing albies, so I got another!

[@guenthersteiner8163]

@@Drufus6753do you like it? I’m thinking of buying one

[@johnlanigan4130]

All I can say is WOW, you caught some show today, nice going and your fishing rod is a beast. All the best!!!!

[@jeremykenward3082]

Wow what a video! Seeing the size of that tarpon definitely calms some of my nerves about chasing chinook salmon in great lakes harbors. Great fish!

[@chucktyner4127]

You make it look easy Mr Skinner ;). That was amazing!!! What a fish, phenomenal battle, well played

[@stratpaulguy86]

That fish was well north of 100lbs. Those jumps were what we live for!

[@HWCism]

Wow, glad you got that on video! Now that is a fish story. 🥳

[@joesidwell]

Three great performances! First place must go to the tarpon - what a magnificent creature. 2nd to you Skinner, outstanding job - you are the consummate fisherman, I’ve seen none better. And 3rd, to that rod - WOW! You might need to have the manufacturer step up production. Loved the video.

[@paulpeaden3402]

That is truely a fish of a lifetime!!! Thanks for the great footage!!!!!!

[@IreallyDC462]

Awesome,perfect self release, everyone went home tired, healthy and happy, great clip!

[@barrygraber9776]

That was a caught fish in my book. Well done sir. Also you tie some great knots

[@scottbellagio]

At 10:05 this huge fish comes flying up ant out of the water. Spectacular ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@dennismcnamara6377]

Great fight! The line sounded like a guitar string when you hit it with your finger!

[@timothywashburn4669]

Awesome fish, awesome video, super rod work.

[@scottwilsonrestoration]

"that's a VERY" large one"....hahaha!! YUP!

[@JB31278]

One of your best videos if not the best. The suspense was great, had me at the edge of my seat I was also saying what am I doing here in NY still lol. The suspense for me was clearing the bridge with the tide, I’m surprised he did not go for the pilings. Great video John Epic. Always love when you go for the bigger stuff try to take advantage of it more then sheepshead lol.

[@JohnSkinnerFishing]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@tomwinkel5182]

What an unbelievable fight !! That was awsome!

[@LongIslandLethals]

That was a big one! The rod preformed excellent with a fish of that caliber. So my fresh water guide loves your MH spinner. He has three of them as well. We were talking about the forward grip and comfortable it is. He won't bring them on his charters yet for his clients lol 😂. I can understand when you are out there every day and that week someone dropped a rod overboard.

[@PeterOkeefe54]

LOL! thought you would quit before the fish did!

[@pastapaul150]

I think the word epic gets used a little too much, but that was definitely EPIC! You did everything you could do, so dam close.

[@JoeJeopardy]

I watch a lot of fishing videos, especially fishing from kayak. THAT WAS GREAT!!!

[@JohnSkinnerFishing]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@michaelsimko7694]

Those last few jumps reminded me of 12+ pound blues. Jet skiers can be a big nuisance. I'm accustomed to them getting too close and causing big wakes during the warmer months here in southwestern CT. They'll even plow right through a blitz. They can be very bad during July and August, mostly in part to kids being out of school and families spending time off. Jet skiers are like the motorcyclists of the water.

[@sayetka]

What a fish! Great to meet you at Brookdale this past weekend!

[@HarlyGuy13]

I can’t even imagine how exciting that must have been.

[@Beenhereawhile1001]

Those jumps were the juice! Congrats!

[@seanleahy1672]

This one made me smile every time that fished jumped Great video

[@tracyb1577]

My favorite “influencer “

[@ATREZ0123]

FANTASTIC! CONGRATS! Great Job John

[@vigodatopia2229]

I trade places most days to experience that, great job Skinner!

[@scottbranlawns]

John that was incredible. Especially those jumps. Epic 🏆🏆🏆

[@gregktm]

You are the man! Thanks for taking us along.

[@deno818]

Very nice of the Jet skiers to move.. They certainly didn’t have to.. you thanked them near the end.. I think the jet skiers were the star of the show.

[@irasaposnik6511]

The hell they did. The thought police were there McNair

[@Norcaloutside]

You must not have been watching him land that Epic tarpon,

[@deno818]

@@Norcaloutside yeah it’s a pretty good size

[@dudeilligence6441]

You're wack

[@johnrudy9404]

H O L Y EFFEN CRRRRAAAPPPP!!!! Fish must have been 4' in the air!

[@charleslahay5991]

Thanks for the hard work to bring us this video. It was fun to watch.

[@jeromewalton5553]

Jet ski mob surrounds me? Clickbaited. I love your content but I expect more from you.

[@CharlotteHarborFisherman]

He didn’t say they surrounded him. His title says exactly what happened

[@aguilarcasie]

Awesome bro,what a fight!!

[@RobertHEllis]

The Old Man and the Sea, a modern adaptation

[@Obxhatman]

Damn Skinner , good hook up brother , I know you were fighting like hell to get it in , and its hard to fight that long. You put the pressure on it , and man I commend ya for that. Definitely a fish of a lifetime , that one was easily twice the weight of any you have caught so far. Monster of a fish. I honestly think out of 100 people in that situation , you are 1 of 100 that would do as well as you did.

[@Swflinshorefishing]

Lake O water releases started Saturday Mr Skinner please use your platform to inform others our estuaries are being destroyed here in SWFL

[@JohnSkinnerFishing]

I see that. I'm watching the salinity on recon.sccf.org/sites/tarpon-bay. Not seeing much of a drop yet. The water clarity is lousy but it's been real windy so not sure what to blame.

[@addicted2fishing119]

Hells Angelfish ‼️😂

[@tomreilly9295]

Great job on fighting the fish!

[@pwrplnt1975]

Absolutely Amazing Video, John!!

[@MrUCL]

I had "Old Man in the Sea" vibes. Mr. Hemingway.

[@MrUCL]

Then I watch further and you said old man in the sea. You must be a brother from another mother. Lmao

[@rogerhyde5990]

Great Adventurous Video. Personally I would consider that a Release. Coolest Video on here in a While. Enjoy the Florida Weather and Fishing before heading back North

[@Blane_be_fishin]

Those are the true river monsters. They only let you land them on their terms. They just don’t give up. 😅

[@robertrazminas5629]

Its called survival!!

[@timothykarnes7945]

Wow Epic what a sport that fish was ..thanks for sharing Battle Royale great hook up

[@YodaWasSith]

Purely because that thing towed you a good mile, we're gonna say you landed him. Nice catch, my friend.

[@openstenosis]

Magnificent creature….tarpon too Which part(s) of your arms feel it the most? Absolutely incredible, thanks for sharing JS

[@gennerobootz6490]

Yea that’s a well made rod

[@johnpacheco2501]

That's a beast!

[@CrabbinNFishin]

Good to meet you at Brookdale over the weekend !

[@duffmeister6480]

That’s very impressive John, but what I find more impressive is that , you traveled from home in the kayak ? That’s looks like 20+ mile trip one way ! For our age I find that incredible , keep going strong ! Thanks.

[@richdunn9774]

Kayaks motorized and I’m sure he trailered it.

[@duffmeister6480]

@@richdunn9774 he previously said to get there by car he hits too much traffic ? He’s extremely adventurous, helps motivate my lazy -- !

[@JohnSkinnerFishing]

That kayak goes in the truck bed with a bed extender. It's about an hour from the house with traffic.

[@joshrussell9460]

It's amazing how fast they get distance on you. Amazing fight john congrats

[@fishwhistler758]

That was an Awesome video! Ill never forget my first first and only landed tarpon. I was in my hobie in the Homasassa river FL. I went 1/4 on a root beer colored DOA terror eyes. Awesome memoy.

[@soot4355]

Great job beautiful tarpon

[@hookedonthebay3890]

Outstanding footage. That's awesome!!!

[@MadMatty72]

Hell yeah!, Iwas excited watching it.

[@Hazel-Hill]

I need air, was holding my breath :)

[@SupposedlyFunThing]

I've noticed most other fishing channels don't use barrel swivels, and only tie main line directly to leader. I've not noticed much of a difference either way so I'm wondering if there's a reason to not use a barrel swivel for typical rigs, other than maybe superstition.

[@JohnSkinnerFishing]

In Northeast surfcasting almost everyone uses a barrel swivel, and that's what I learned on and see no reason to change. I have more confidence in palomar and clinch knots.

[@LI-FLKayakFisherman]

Awesome video John!

[@jrosalia]

Wow!! Reminds me of my days back in the 80s catching big bluefish in Cold Spring Harbor. Those jumps were awesome

[@kenny.g727]

Great fish John ! I fish for tarpon around the Skyway Bridge and they are called the silver king for a reason ! And jetskiers are called sea cockroaches for a reason 👍

[@jf-be4zy]

that whole video was worth it just to see those jumps, I was hoping he would jump in the middle of the jetskiers. When you said you were going to put your hand in his mouth and take the hook out I thought you might end up with your whole arm in his mouth because he did look very big to me.