We last caught up with Emmanuel a little over a year ago, following his jet-ski run from Florida to the Bahamas. This time around, instead of chasing waves, he traded the Black Friday madness for one heck of a wreck-fishing day. Taking advantage of the calm, sunny post-Thanksgiving weekend out of Jupiter, he pointed the bow offshore, fired up the GoPro, and dropped lines over known deep-water structure just outside the inlet.
The target: deep wrecks and reefs — classic hotspots off Jupiter where wreck-loving wreck dwellers like amberjack still roam. Most of Jupiter’s go-to wrecks fall under what locals refer to as the Jupiter Wreck Trek — a cluster of decommissioned freighters and barges like Zion Train, Miss Jenny and Esso Bonaire that sit in roughly 85–95 ft of water.
It didn’t take long before the first bait hit bottom and the fight was on.
A big amberjack absolutely freight-trained the deep bait, peeling drag and ripping multicolored metered braid off the reel — those bright, shifting colors telling Emanuel exactly how deep the fight was happening. (Amberjack — often called “reef donkeys” — are brutally strong offshore fish known for deep-structure battles and heavyweight runs that routinely humble even seasoned anglers.)
From there, the wreck lit up. Drop after drop, the crew stayed tight. More amberjack. More cardio. More complaining that arms were done… followed immediately by, “Okay, one more drop.” Not every fish made keeper size, but nobody was complaining — on a wreck-drift like this, bites come fast and furious.
Then came jigging chaos. Small kingfish started schooling under the ski, and the speed jigs went off. One hookup turned into two — then three — then full-on jigging mayhem. Keeper kings at 25 inches slid into the box, while the shorts, bonitos and mystery foul-hooked torpedoes went over the rail. At one point, Emanuel hooked a fish without the rod even in his hand. When the kings are thick, they’re thick.
By day’s end, the crew never got the “holy grail” monster, but with a stack of amberjacks, a box full of kingfish, and a lot of laugher — it was every bit the escape they hoped for. Off Jupiter, the wrecks are always waiting, and as long as the braid keeps spooling, so are the fish.
More runs, more wrecks, and more chaos are already on deck for iBelongOutdoors — and Emmanuel promises the next GoPro won’t go overboard. Probably.
