Corpusfishing.com

[Bighead]

3 years ago, our best friends and my wife and I hit Matagorda Beach to camp on Halloween. We had a great time, caught multiple bull reds, and even a nice little Black tip shark that night.

We thought this was a good omen for things to come...don't know how this big beast met it's demised...but we call this, shark with Landshark...can anyone identify what species this is?



'tis a shame such a beautiful creature had to die, but that's the circle of life.

Well, this past weekend, we totally bested that trip, and have set the bar for all future trips.

Our buddies arrived early, and had camp set up, but Kim and I hit the beach at Matagorda about 5 PM on friday night. Driving was, well, HORRIBLE. Very soft sand, could not go low, and up high was very rough and soft...did I say it was soft?

After about an hour and a half, we finally made camp...26 miles covered in 90 minutes...yeah, it was tough, and we were both wondering WTF were we thinking!

I helped the wife set up the tent, and then said, "I'm going to catch the first bull red of the weekend, and I rigged up my 10' Tica/Saltist 20 with a nice hunk of cut mullet and let it fly. I was wondering if I'd gotten the bait out far enough, and was about to put my waders on when I heard the reel start screaming...FISH ON!

I handed the rod off to our friend's son AJ, and he did a masterful job of bringing in the first red of the weekend!

Here's AJ and myself with his first ever saltwater fish!



We ended up catching 3 more bulls that night before some homemade whiskey made the rounds, and we all crashed for the night.

I was up at the crack of dawn to a much calmer surf, and immediately got a bait out...I had set the rod in the holder for about a 10 count when it went off...FISH ON!

The beautiful Matagorda Beach sunrise:



As a note for you picture taking types...my wife took this picture THROUGH the lens of her Costa Del Mar 580P's...it has quite an effect on the image, and I thought it was cool. Try it...you'll like what you see!

Another bull red...and the first one for saturday morning:



We ended up catching and releasing a LOT of bull reds. We stopped counting at 25 caught and released bull reds! Let me repeat that...we STOPPED counting at 25. At one point, I had made a long cast and before I could put the rod in the holder, I had a big red stripping off line and had picked up the bait. Here's some various fish and action shots from the day:

Really cool spot on my wife's red:



Tony battling a big red bruiser:



Josh and Megan with her bull red



Me with another bull red:


Ivan the Terrible...crazy little dog, every time we'd land a redfish, he'd go NUTS, trying to nip at and bite the redish! Those fish were big enough to eat HIM!



As the day wore on, the fishing slowed, and honestly, it was a welcome break. We were sore from catching so many oversized redfish...it was really just crazy how thick they were.

We were relaxing, when we heard a rod go off...but this time, it had some 'sizzle' to it...AJ was off like a shot, and grabbed the rod. After about a 45 minute battle, AJ handed the rod to me, and we ended up landing about a 5.5' Bull shark. The leader broke right at the end, and as the fish made a last chance to get away, Josh grabbed the thing by the tail and yanked it up on the beach...crazy I know, but a calculated risk with how tired that fish was.

AJ with his Bull Shark



AJ and Josh with their beast!



The 'three stooges' with said beast


This guy was gutted and bled out and made into steaks...not really my idea, but it is what it is.

Here's where some of it ended up...and a little garlic, a little butter, and some Tony Chechere's, and it was actually DELICIOUS!



How can you not love this...Sunset at Matagorda Beach:



As the night wore on, we hooked up with a 5.5-6' black tip shark...about an hour battle, the fish won...but we did have a hand on the leader, so we're calling it a catch like they do off shore, and we had designs on releasing this one, so...again, it is what it is.

Last fish of the night was Tony's...a nice 4.5' Bull Shark caught on relatively LIGHT tackle...way to go Tony!



We got hit with a flash storm during the night, but no biggee...we woke up and packed up and hit the road back...horrid driving coming out, but WELL WORTH it for the memories that will last a life time, and a great time with our friends, doing what we all love best.

Bighead
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Slow and steady wins the race...unless of course, it's an actual race.

[wallhanger]

Cool. Love those family and friend trips. Memories that'll last forever. Thanks for the post.

[Central Scrutinizer]

[Bighead]

No idea CS.

This is the only picture we got, and when Kim and I saw it, it was at night, and we were afraid to slow down.

In looking at the snout, eyes, teeth and dorsal, I'm guessing something in the Mako family.

I was wondering if it was caught and could not be revived, or something else happened to it.

Interesting to say the least.

Bighead
_________________
Slow and steady wins the race...unless of course, it's an actual race.

[Central Scrutinizer]

Longfin Mako are a "prohibited" species. Not something you see everyday on the beach. Pretty cool story.

[kweber]

that dog has no fear...
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the creepy uncle that scares the kids....

[Pablo]

Nice report.....Love that BBQ set up. SWEET!
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TAKERS GET THE HONEY, GIVERS SING THE BLUES.... - ROBIN TROWER -

[fishmasterfred]

nice pics man!

You said you covered 26 miles in 90 minutes ... is that MM26?

[RodBreaker]

[mickeyd]

Ryan:
Was the grass coming in and if so was it a bother? Did you guys hook up with any slot reds during this time.
Nice pics and thanks for the report!
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Mike

[Bighead]

[blackhawk78418]

Good times...