The Galley
I caught a fish THIS big...!
Go ahead and brag a little. We would love to hear from you. Share with us your favorite stories of fantastic catches and your beloved pictures of fishing. This page is all about YOU!

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Two of the four blue fin tuna caught off the South Jersey coast aboard the "One More". One fish was 76 inches and over 250 lbs.

Shaun C.


I purchased two TLD 50's and two TLD 30's this year at Fishermans Outfitters in Gloucester Mass. Those guys recommended these rods. Well I love them and today a TLD 30 with the Tallus proved themselves. We hooked a 77" Blue Fin Tuna on Stellwagen Bank today and after a 2 1/2 hour battle we landed the 250-300 lb fish. Thank you for your quality fishing tackle.

Artie C.
Danvers, MA


I caught this personal best of 2.91kg with a Calcutta TE200 on a Convergence 7'0" medium heavy rod. I'm crazy about Shimano and used it since I can remember.

Thanks,
N. van Straaten
South Africa


I just wanted to share with you a wonderful saltwater fishing experience. I was privleged enought to catch a 79 lb, 4 oz Black Drum using a 5 oz Shimano Flat Sided Green Sardine Butterfly Jig and Trevala Jigging rod. The fish was caught off of Shrewsbury Rocks, NJ in about 60 feet of water. Black Drum is a species not known for chasing jigs, but the "butterfly jig" proved too much to resist. This is my largest fish ever, and the fight took about 30 minutes. I must admit, I am now addicted to Butterfly Jigging and the Butterfly System.

Another highlight is that this fish qualified me for an entry into "The Fisherman" Magazine's Dreamboat challenge. This contest takes the top ten largest fish covering eight Atlantic species caught during the fishing season and gives me entry into a boat raffle. While it's a long shot, it would have never happened without your great system.

I want to thank you for this lifetime memory,
Tim B.
Bernardsville, NJ



My eleven year old son took this picture while trolling out of South Haven, Michigan one evening on our boat the Utopia. He and my daughter caught three four-year-old King Salmon from shortly after this picture was taken until dark. We own twenty Talora rods and Tekota reels. It has been a pleasure to use such fine equipment. The drag system on your reels is awesome and critical to putting fish in our cooler while fishing for salmon and trout on Lake Michigan.

Tom G.
Lawrence, MI
I recently caught a pending line-class record Roosterfish while casting a Yo-Zuri Surface Cruiser, fishing the Pacific Coast in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. I was using my Shimano Stradic 6000FG filled with 50 lb PowerPro line, and paired with a St. Croix Surf-System rod. This is the same reel that I use religiously while surf-fishing for stiped bass here in New Jersey.

The huge roosterfish weighed in at 106 lbs (48 kgs). It measured 64 inches in length, with a 36 inch girth. The all-tackle record of 114 lbs was caught in 1960, using live bait. This is the second largest Roosterfish on record, and the largest known to be caught on an artificial lure. Thank you for manufacturing a quality product that can withstand the stress of big game fishing! This is proof that the incredible power of Shimano spinning reels can handle the largest Roosterfish!

Jeff R.
Washington, NJ


We had a great day with your jigs on the Bluefin Tuna. We caught a total of 5 fish but current regulations only allow to keep 2. This shot is the 90 plus pounder caught on a 5'8" Trevala Rod, Torium 16, Glow type 150 gram jig.

This was out of C/M New Jersey is an area called the lumps where the sea floor rises from about 120 feet to 90 feet. The tuna are now feeding on sand eels on the tops of the lumps.

Dan H.





I started fishing a few years ago, and had old out dated equipment. I saved up some money and upgraded my reels to Shimano. This summer I managed to catch two trophy trout. My first one was a 23 inch 8l b rainbow and the second was a 24 inch 6 lb brown trout. All I can say is thanks Shimano for making such wonderful products.

Chris O.
Pittsburgh, PA



Ok, so I can't decide which picture I like best, so you pick. All fish were caught on a Curado 201, and a brand new Citica 200 DSV. Two 4.5 lb bass and a few pike over 25 inches, and countless bass in the 2-3 lb range, about 100-150" hammer handle size pike. Awesome as usual. Since being married in 1996, my wife and I meet her family in Minnesota every other summer and my wife, well, INSISTS I buy a new reel. I like to brag on my Shimano equipment, but...hanging my head, I own other brands (how foolish, I know). So this year, when it came time for a new reel, we were off to the store, I spotted the Citica, but also a less expensive reel. My darling dearest's quote was, "you KNOW that Shimano reel will work forever, who knows about this other one." This will make Shimano #4 our of 8, but Christmas and birthdays are coming too. Thanks to you guys for all your hard work and dedication to keeping us folks fishing.

John H.



I love my Shimano spinning reels. I am sure that all of my fishing buddies are tired of hearing me go on about them. I have four old Shimano TX Plus Graphite/Titanium reels equipped with Fightin' Drag and QuickFire bails. I purchased my first Shimano spinning reel probably about 20 years ago and I still have it and still use it regularly. I have caught A LOT of big bass with my TX 130 over the years and still today it performs strong, smooth and reliably. It is the one I keep with me in my truck at all times.

Ken B.
Winter Garden, FL







Butterfly Jigging off the Coast of Panama using a Shimano BTR 4500 Reel, Shimano Saragosa SRS70MH Rod with Flat-Side Jig. I own the full line of the Butterfly Jigs Flat-Side, Long and Regular and I'm a true believer with the Butterfly System. Above is a rare Mexican Barred Snapper and an African Pompano...Gotta love the Butterfly by Shimano...

Isla Seca, Panama
Kerry



I caught this beautiful Tiger Shark of 206kg (new South African record measured) off the North coast of South Africa. Early Saturday morning me and two of my friends put our last baits in the water before heading back home. It didn't take long before I was hooked up! There wasn't much that I could have done but to watch my line peeling off my reel. Luckily I had 500m of backing and 200m of 0.55 double x on my reel because I only had 50m of line left before starting to turn the fish. After 4 hours of sweating and running up and down the beach my two friends went in to the water to grab him by the tail and drag him on to the beach. You might call them crazy but we prefer landing the fish that way than gaffing it. After a few quick photos the shark was tagged and released.

Thanks to Shimano, your Torium 30 did the job and hopefully will do so in the future!

Andries O.
South Africa


I'm a Jersey Girl, born and bred, and I've always enjoyed fishing. As a young girl, I fished on my grandparents' farm in the irrigation pond for sunnies and pickerel with my push-button rod and red-and-white bobber, using worms I dug up myself as bait. But it wasn't until about six years ago that I tried saltwater fishing. My boyfriend and his family have always owned boats and gone fishing in the bay, ocean and offshore. They taught me everything I know about saltwater fishing. Our usual haunt is Long Beach Island, NJ, where we enjoy surf fishng for stripers, bluefish, flounder and anything else we can hook up. We mainly use bunker and surf clams for bait, which is quite a step up from worms! My boyfriend always enters the annual spring Simply Bassin' Tournament and this year I decided to sign up too. What the heck, it was only twenty bucks to enter. Well, that was the best twenty bucks I ever spent. From the beach, I reeled in this monster striper using a 10 foot 6 inch Tica rod equipped with a Shimano Baitrunner 4500 reel. The reel was wound with 20lb test Yozuri Hybrid fishing line, and I used 60lb test Yozuri Fluorocarbon leader with a 5/0 circle hook baited with a bunker chunk. The fish weighed 38 lbs, 11 oz and measured 48 inches long, with a girth of 24 1/2 inches. It was big enough to put me on the leaderboard in 4th place (not to mention the fact that I'm the very first lady angler to place in this tournament EVER)! It's also the biggest fish I've caught to date, but it won't be for long...I've been bitten by the fishing bug and can't wait to move on to bigger and better fish!

Cindy T.



For my birthday in March my husband took me to Bass Pro Shops as a surprise so that I could pick out a new reel to replace my favorite one that had broke. I liked the look and feel of the Cardiff 100A and we purchased it. Unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to go fishing until April 12th. We went to a favorite small private lake that we have access to and knew that we could always catch lots of 1lb and smaller bass. I was using my new Shimano reel and had caught five small bass when the most amazing happened. I had thrown in and was working the bait when I felt a bite. The line immediately went down and my husband commented that I had either caught a catfish or a good sized bass. It took just a few minutes of working the line when I caught my first glance of a monster large mouth bass! When I first saw the fish I knew that it was a big one and did everything that I could in order to bring it in. After at least 10 minutes of working the fish I finally got it close enough to the boat for my husband to get a hold of it and bring it in the boat. I couldn't believe how big the fish was. Unfortunately, it wouldn't fit in the live well and we had no way of keeping it alive in order to contact the states share lunker program. I did have my cell phone with me so we quickly went to shore and took several pictures and measurements of the fish before letting it go. This bass was 27" long, had a girth of 27.5" and weighed 17.5 lbs!!! Wow. This was the biggest bass I had ever caught! I really appreciate the way the Cardiff 100A reel handled, and the ease of use, especially with the drag. I hope to catch many more large bass with this new reel.

Thanks,
Joanne M.
Nacogdoches, TX


37lb. Red Snapper in 256ft
"The Jig works"
Tim K.
Daytona Beach, FL









Here is my little girl, Claire's, first fish. She did the casting, hooked it and even used one hand to help me net the bass.

Thanks,
Craig E.






Stella Meets Stella

I'm still trying to decide which one is cuter.

Doug R.
Willits, Ca





Joe K.
Fort Myers Beach, FL





108 pound European Catfish, Lyon, France.
October 2007, and yes, we’re just friends.
~ Steve W.
The biggest steelhead I’ll ever catch – 17 pounds, Eel River, CA 3/31/07 – Thanks Ed T.!
~Steve W.
Marta’s 113 lb. Amberjack, Hawaii, 12/29/06.
If she had caught it solo, it would have been a
Women’s world record. But she needed help.
~Steve W.


Caught this 28 pound snook with a Stradic 4000 at 2 AM on May 1, 2008 in Lee County Florida, from shore. Was using a 4 inch swim bait, with 40 pound Power Pro, and 40 pound leader. Fish was released to fight another day.

Bob M.
Lee County, FL



Well me and a buddy went jigging this past weekend in search of monster fish. My first drop in 250ft of water with my Trinidad 16N on an extra extra heavy Trevala rod and bingo I was hooked up with a monster. I was using a Shimano flatside glow jig and was hooked up with a 26lb red snapper. After about a 5 minute fight it was over he was in the boat. The other 15 pound red groupers were completely forgotten about next to this monster. We had a great trip. Jigging is all I do. I don't use the term fishing anymore just catching thanks to the butterfly system.


Tight Lines,

Josh R.
Morehead City, NC


Four year old Sara P. with a legal halibut she caught at Goleta Beach
in Santa Barbara, CA, using a 3 inch Big Hammer swimbait on a
Shimano Stradic 2500 MG and Shimano Compre 76MLB.





My name is Chris, I am 23 years old from Hampton, Virginia on December 9, 2007 I was fishing aboard a friends boat HEALTHY GRIN with Dr. Ken Neil III which is the captain of the boat my dad Dave Boyce, Bob Manus, Steve Martin and Danny Forehand. We were targeting Grouper in the deep, Blueline Tilefish and Sea Bass. We started our day in 100 fathoms (600 foot of water) and our first couple of drops produced large spiny dogfish (small sharks) which was not our targeted species. We made a little move to another fishing area and I was joking with the guys that I was going to drop down and catch the first good fish of the day, I had no idea I was going to be right and better yet the fish would be a state record and pending world record snowy grouper. We drop down and I hooked up to this Snowy Grouper that was huge on a Penn Mariner Stand-Up Rod with a TLD 20 spooled with 50 pound Power Pro. Fought the fish for about 10 minutes we netted him and put him in the boat. Ken and Bob Manus who still holds the record for snowy grouper said that this fish was close if not a little bigger and I didn’t think it would weigh 66 pounds but we put him in the cooler and fished the rest of the day and caught another 25 snowy grouper, good catch of blueline tiles up to 10 pounds, sea bass and Dave Boyce also caught a nice Golden Tilefish. It was a great day with a good bunch of guys, couldn't have asked for a better crew!! I am an avid saltwater fisherman here in Virginia and through my years of fishing I have never caught a fish of this caliber.

Chris B
Hampton, Virginia




I am so excited to have caught a 38# Cobia that I wanted to share a pic with you, and the world. I used a Spheros 12000 reel and caught a bluefish, about 14 inches long, and ran a single hook through his caudal area, dropped him off the deep end of the Pensacola Beach Fishing Pier and within 3 minutes was battling with what turned out to be a 38# Cobia. There was a second swimming with it but no one was able to hook up on it. After about 4 minutes of pulling hard with no apparent impact on the stamina of the fish I lessened my drag, hoping he would run away from the pier and expend some energy. However, the fish remained close to the pilings, so I had to crank down on the drag, grip the spool and keep pulling hard. I was able to bring the fish to a rope gaff after what seemed like an hour, but was more realistically about 10 minutes, and the rest is history. My biggest fish ever, my third legal Cobia and a wonderful memory.


Share pleasure, go fishing with a friend!!!
James P.
Pensacola, FL






I just returned from a trip to Panama and wanted to tell everyone that I used Shimano Butterfly Jigs extensively. I used the 160g/5 5/8 oz size in different colors but had the best luck with Pink/Silver. I caught big Cubera Snappers, Amberjacks, Jack Crevalle and Yellowfin Tuna. One day we found a large school of Amberjacks and I caught more than I could keep count of. On one drop I caught two fish on the same jig. We also ran into a huge school of Yellowfin Tuna and the fish hit surface lures, bait and the Jigs. But the biggest fish came on the Butterfly Jig. I even trolled the Butterfly Jig and caught Bonito for bait. The Pink/Silver paint finally wore off the jig after about 80 fish. The Cubera Snappers have a fierce set of teeth and they did the most damage. The jigs are a great product and I outfished the other anglers who were fishing with jigs made by other manufacturers. Thanks for a great product.

Sincerely,
Jim B.
North Branford, CT






This e-mail is to commend your company on building a wonderful fishing reel. I was walleye fishing on Sunday and caught a 50lb+, 50 in.+ sturgen with the help of your Sahara spinning reel on 8lb test!!!

The reel held up wonderfully and the drag system worked flawlessly. Thank you for the lifelong memory, and I will continue to support your company with my patronage.

Joe R.
Beloit, WI






Photos from a recent trip with
All Rivers Guide Service



Dear Shimano,

I have recently started using your butterfly system, and I am hooked, I probally will never use bait for bottom fishing again. On a recent half day trip of the coast of Myrtle Beach, SC with Fish-A-Holic Charters I started dropping a 135gram glow jig down in 100ft of water, first drop I hooked up with about a 20lb aj, and from then on I was hooked, I caught everything from peanut dolphin, triggers, AJ(ended up with about 20 for the day) Sea Bass, even spot tail pinfish. But what the best part was is when I dropped the jig down and hooked up with a AJ about half way down to the bottom, after about 5 mins into the fight the captain dropped his jig down and hooked up, after about a 10 minutes into the fight we thought we were tangled with each other so he let up and I got mine to the boat, when we pulled it on board and releized that the fish had both jigs in his mouth, I dont know if this happens alot with your jig but my fish actually ate his jig while I was fighting it. Crazy, the coolest thing I have ever saw while fishinig. Im hooked on the jigs and wont go back to bait, even ended up winning a tournament 2 weeks later catching kings on your jigs.

thanks for such a cool product

Bryan C.
That fish knows who's boss!!!
I caught this 8 pounder with a Citica 100DSV on a Shimano Clarus 6'6" medium heavy rod. I've used Shimano rods and reels ever since I started fishing and I don't think I'll ever use another brand!


Catch of the Day!
29" Long, Over 10 lbs!!! Nice Redfish!!!
Walleye fishing in May on the St. Clair River in Michigan. We were jigging in about 46 feet of water using a one ounce jig with both an artificial and a live minnow attached. We did not have a scale, but she was huge. We believe she was still full of eggs so we released her to grow some more babies. We caught many more walleye's in the 3-5 lb range, but none of them compared to this hog.

Dan M.
Algonac, MI

I was recently jigging for Walleye's in the St. Clair River in Michigan when I felt a very strong tug on my line. At first I thought I was hung up on something but then felt the line jerking. I could not get the fish to come up from the 50 foot depth I was fishing in and it started taking line from my reel! For several minutes we followed the fish in our boat until it tired out. We did not see it and could not tell what it was. Fifteen minutes later I finally was able to land the fish and get it in the boat. What a beautiful surprise - a sturgeon. The first one I have ever caught in my 25 years fishing on the river. It was a young one, probably about 10 years old. Was about 4 feet long and weighed about 20 pounds. It really does look like some sort of prehistoric creature. We released it back into the river to grow even bigger.
Hooking, fighting and landing this prehistoric sturgeon is a fishing experience I will never forget!

Dan M.
Algonac, MI
I caught this 28 lb, 37 inch carp in Neshaminy Creek in Bucks County, Pennsylvania - a personal best. It was caught on my carp outfit that I have been using for many years. The rod is a Shimano Bull Whip, MK-2652 and the reel is a Shimano Black Magnum, SBK-3000Q. I love this outfit and expect to get many more years of good use out of it.

Steven P.
Philadelphia, PA