Morehead City Amberjacks

From Hout Ly's Report in May of 2018:
I had the pleasure to fish with Paul Chua from Saltywater Tackle, Tony Ly and Chris and David from work this past week in North Carolina. Nice group of guys to fish with. Was my 2nd time fishing with Paul and what a great guy to learn from - incredibly knowledgeable and loves to share information.
I learned a big lesson this trip and it has to do with sleep and energy levels. We got to Moorehead City late and I didn't get to bed until 2am. Woke up at 4am and headed over to the marina. Horrible idea. Was sick and miserable all day. When you can only fish 1-2 trips a year, every fishing day counts. Lesson learned.
It was too bad for me but lucky for the others. The bite was hot! Tony and Chris knocked out fish after fish and were into double digits before lunchtime. The morning session produced many amberjacks - both on jig and topwater. I landed my first topwater AJ with an Amegari Leen 145. Second hook up came via a Napalm 170 but a shark ultimately stole it. Most fish were in the 30-40lb class.
We also had an amazing array of species caught this day. I landed a nice blackfin tuna on a Blaze 20g popper that was fun on light tackle. Chris caught a beautiful American red that we quickly released. The guys also landed trigger fish, mahi mahi, cobia, porgy, gouper, etc.
Tony got a very nice cobia on a Saruna Dragon sinking stickbait. The fish was probably 40-50lbs and it was incredible the skinny hooks held. Too bad we forgot to take a picture. Nice fight still on PE3.
The second day was not as productive in terms of numbers but the quality of fish was fantastic. Chris and Tony landed their personal best amberjack. These fish look so prehistoric once they get to full adult size.
Chris was also fortunate to land a very nice gag grouper. It weighed in at 37 lbs!
Lastly, Paul spent some time with a Borboleta Bally Short popper. Credit goes to his patience and tenacity. The lure was cut off once and we managed to get it back. It was cut off a second time and he didn't bother to say anything until one of us saw it in the ocean and we again retrieved it. Eventually, a nice amberjack took a swipe at it and Paul landed it.
All in all, a great trip. Thanks to John Cawthern for taking us out and putting us on the fish. Always appreciate the colorful commentary you put out.

[@ThePapaadam]

Great catch on that light gear guys...well done

[@iksanbima1781]

What Rod in 1;24 ?