Okay, so this guy fell down after catching his jumbo AJ; that happens. Best let someone else catch the next one.

I had watched Matt intently on the first few hookups. He let the fish eat for a few seconds before engaging the reel, allowing the circle hook to find the corner of each AJ’s mouth. We were using big baits and didn’t want to pull the bait away from the fish.

Everyone had their turn to mock me now and at one point I thought I would lose the fish because I was laughing so hard. These beasts are enormously strong, and I was very happy when my 53-pounder hit the deck.

Next up were the girls. And I say girls, but to be fair Mark ended up finishing the job. Renee was up first and she fought the fish for 5 or 6 minutes, but these fish are just brutal. If you’ve ever tangled with a 20-pounder, you might think you have an idea, but these fish get exponentially stronger as they get older. Renee handed the rod off to Lisa after we got a belt on her and she took her turn at the brute. With the fish wearing down, and Lisa, too, she handed the rod to her husband to finish him off. Mark did just that. When Matt gaffed the fish and hoisted him over the rail, we had one tired 44-pound fish and a boat full of exhausted anglers.

Regardless of what part of the state you live in, you can tangle with monsters, too, if you follow a few tips.

First, for big jacks, you want relief. We all wanted some relief after these battles, but I’m really talking about the height that the structure rises off the bottom. The more relief you have, the better the chance you’re in the neighborhood for jumbo jacks. Wrecks along the Florida Panhandle, like the Antares, Chevron, Angelina B, Tenneco and Avocet, range in relief from 35 to 82 feet. These are all well-known haunts for AJs. We fished rocks that had significant relief and you shouldn’t rule out areas along the Edge from east of Destin to southwest of Perdido; just keep a keen eye on your depthfinder.

Deep wrecks and reefs on Florida’s peninsular Gulf Coast—especially the sharper rises on the Florida Middle Ground—produce whopper AJs. Wrecks and reefs also hold big AJs on the Atlantic side. The deep seamounts, or humps in the Florida Keys have long been famous for huge jacks, some topping 100 pounds. Push Button Hill, off St. Lucie Inlet, is another solid spot. And, of course, any wreck in 100 feet or deeper is liable to attract them. Spring, from February through April, is the prime season for AJ fishing, as members of the species gang up to spawn at that time.

Catch these monsters can require a couple of hands.

When you have a game plan of where to go, make sure you have some exceptional baits, or you’ll end up getting tired catching keepers. We started catching 20- to 30-pound fish when we ran out of really big baits and I’m convinced if we had caught some 4- to 5-pound baitfish, we would have caught even bigger jacks. Don’t be afraid to experiment with bait, either. A rainbow runner or football-size vermilion snapper will work as well as a ladyfish or big mullet.

As for gear, I know folks who bottom-fish with gold anodized, high-end trolling reels, and that’s fine. But you don’t have to get fancy with these fish. A good ‘ol 6/0 or graphite-body lever drag will do just great. You don’t need a fast retrieve with these fish, just a good smooth drag. We used monofilament line for this trip, but we often have the reels spooled with braid for grouper fishing. Both work fine, but the thing to remember with braid is that it doesn’t stretch—and that works on both ends. The fish doesn’t have any stretch to help him get back down, but you don’t have a shock absorber, either. Hold on and brace yourself, or you’ll soon meet the gunnel and then your friends may laugh at you.