Corpusfishing.com

[justletmein]

I don't normally write reports, so forgive me if it doesn't come out as clean and interesting as the others. I figured I'd write one this time because I've been looking for Sharkathon reports frantically over the last few days and not finding many, and the wife scored so I figured I should write it up for others looking for reports like I have been.

Myself, Momma, and my 16 year old planned on fishing Sharkathon for our first time this year. It's something I've always wanted to do, but Momma and Big wanted to get it done this year too so I finally got off my duff and got registered. I found out my boy was too old when I went to register (cutoff is 15) but he actually quit football so he could go fish with us so I had to let him go anyway, not actually quit but when he told coach he was going to miss a game to go fishing coach bumped him down to JV and told him he wouldn't ever see Varsity again. He told coach he'd be going fishing anyway, and now he officially quit after he got back. Anyhow, I thought I was being slick to get down there early, showed up Thursday and realized everybody else came down on Wednesday. No matter we headed South to find a good looking location. We passed a lot of good space in the teens with very few trucks, passed quite a few working birds in the teens and high banks (or what used to be the high banks area), and kept trucking further South. Momma and "Big" kept hassling me every time we'd pass some birds but I just felt we needed to get further down. We finally found a spot I liked and we pulled up and fished a little before setting up. Big broke out his Fly rod and immediately began catching small Skipjack every cast and a few baby Jacks (they're so freaking cute with that ornery face LOL) so I figured this spot will work and began setting up camp. By the time I was done setting up the tents Momma had several good Whiting in the fish box and a skippy or two.

After collecting bait for a while it was decided to head back to wait in line for our registration numbers. We left Big back in camp at the mercy of the coyotes since he's not registered and took off, man that was a longer drive than I thought it would be, took 1.5 hours to get back and when we arrived the line was damn near backed up to the Y entrance. We bailed and headed in to town to get gas and some sodas and got back around 10:30 to a much shorter line, got our HIGH numbers and took off. Rolled back into camp somewhere close to 1:00am or so. I packed up and crawled in the tent for a nap.

5:00am alarm went off instantly, I swear I only slept for 10 minutes and must have been abducted by aliens but I didn't know we could be late so we were gone by 5:15 heading back North again to register. We got there around 6:30 as driving seemed a bit better with everyone sleeping and I guess a little rain packed down the sand. After standing there about 20 minutes we realized we'd need the umbrellas and chairs so I grabbed the rain jackets, umbrella, and some waters from the truck and we sat out front while the numbers were called. Got a little rain as yall well know, but hey it wouldn't be Sharkathon if you didn't get dumped upon.


Finally got registered and joined the caravan of trucks heading South. We get back to camp and I start rigging some baits, cut some Jack steaks and put out some other larger things and some whiting and skipjack too. Trying to hurry and get those baits out as this VV was coming.



I realize that all that driving back and forth I did was pretty much useless as 3 trucks pull up about 75 yards South of us and begin setting up camp and I notice a truck about 100 yards North of us as well. I decide right then next time I'm camping at the 5 and will just register and pull up to someone down South and announce that I'll be fishing with them. We'd fish into the afternoon without much luck, catching more bait and quickly began giving the skipjack a pass because we had plenty of them already and they were small. Momma fished her tail off out on the bar and I saw her releasing many whiting and skippies, she was hoping for a Bull Red to enter for the Women's division but the day would go by without such luck.

I decide to take a break from refreshing all the baits and we kick back and relax under my tarp for a while. The guy from 75 yards South of us is out in his kayak and I'm freaking out because the current pulled him out right on top of my lines. I finally realize he's not running a bait, he's just fishing from the kayak so no big deal. His buddies are in the surf on some cool looking platforms avoiding the waves while fishing. Dude gets about 1/4 mile out and has drifted quite far North with the current and we see him roll. I thought that's really weird he's just sitting in the yak out there and it wasn't really THAT rough yet. He gets back in and I see the front of the yak go up in the air and he's back out. This would repeat about 5 times and I realize something's wrong. I look back at the guy's buddies and they're fishing away. I look around and I don't see any other kayaks out there, told Momma I think I'm gonna have to go get this guy and she says you better get out there quick before he goes further North and further out to sea. So I hop in the yak and head out, paddled my arse off trying to get that far out quickly so the current wouldn't take us further away. I say hello and we talk, find out his yak filled up with water and capsizes when he gets in it... damn thing is sinking. I brought a rope with me so we tied them off and he hung on to his yak while I paddled in. I had NO idea dragging a half sunk yak and a big dude (he was tall big) through the surf would be such a chore. Had to work pretty hard to get back into the surf zone and I was trying to paddle UP current so as not to land in the other guys' lines. Once we got into the surf zone the breakers helped roll us in but there was no avoiding the lines and we ended up drifting right through the other guys' spread. We apologized and they said he was trying to wave us in because he'd seen what was going on, really cool of him and he gave us and our yaks a ride back to our respective camps.

Just as the sun is beginning to wane on the horizon JC and his boy Evan pull up, they'd been planning to fish with us but got delayed back in SA. Evan is the nicest 12 year old I've met I think and was always asking to help out with things. He would later win an awesome door prize. So they say hello and pull back to start setting up and the wife immediately hooks up on a 24" Red.



We measure and snap a pic and while I'm releasing it we get a run. I look back and Momma is having a hell of a time getting the rod out of the holder, but she manages and I get there in time to help her get the fighting belt on.



She goes for probably 15-20 minutes and that fish is very stubborn coming over the 2nd bar. I finally see the line rapidly heading North and realize the fish came over the bar and JC and I head out to leader it in. We get measurements and take pics and all and get the release done and then it hits us, wow this is a really good fish for Women's division and might be good enough to place. We all want to check the camera so bad to look at the pics, but this is a brand new camera that I've only taken a couple test shots with so I'm afraid to mess with it so we just put it away.



We inform JC that he's required now to fish with us every time we go fishing and hopefully he considers it. Now I'm all fired up and I begin yakking baits in the dark by moonlight. I get 4 fresh baits out and get back to wait, put the glow sticks on and don't hear a click. Suddenly my body just crashes from lack of sleep and exhaustion from refreshing baits all day long constantly and I decide I'm heading to bed. I pull in two lines with no bait on them... One had a huge chunk of Jack on it and there's just plain no way that came off on it's own but none of the rods even turned a click. The other two rods came in with bait in-tact so I scratch my head and hit the sack.

I wake up bright and early the next morning at the crack of 9:30 and kick myself for missing a lot of good morning fishing. I grab a Big 100 bar and chew on it while I'm rigging baits and I get them all put out. I refresh a few times and we get a small run and drop. At some point we see a wad of birds coming our way and one of my 4/wides goes off peeling drag. I end up pulling in a 40.5" Jack.



After the Jack the winds kicked up like crazy and the surf turned angry in a hurry. I would continue running baits and I rolled once pretty bad, that wicked current took me North in a hurry and I had two baits rolling around with me attached to the kayak which would end up snagging my other lines I'd previously run out. I had lines wrapped around my legs and all over my kayak and stuck in the replaceable skeg guard. I managed to get the lines off my legs and get back in the yak, reached around and attempted to untangle the baits from the lines but it was no use. I paddled/rolled/surfed my way back in dragging several lines in with me. I rigged everything up again and sent 4 baits back out but 3 of them broke loose so I threw in the towel and kicked back to relax a while. I had one line from early in the day that I ran WAY out with a large head of a Sheepshead on it that got picked up. I grabbed the rod and it was ON, this was a very heavy fish and swimming South against a hell of a current. I put a lot of pressure on this fish trying to gain line and it kept swimming South, fought it for maybe 5 minutes and didn't gain a whole lot and then felt that sudden pop/slack and my heart sunk as I realized the hook pulled. Pulled in that bait and it barely had the smallest little tooth marks in it. :/ The sand on the beach was blowing and sandblasting my sunburned exposed skin, sand snakes looked kinda cool so I snapped a pic.



JC would tough it out fishing late into the night but I don't sleep well in tents so I'm still suffering a bit of lack of sleep and went ahead and turned in for the night. Woke up shortly after dawn to find some really nice conditions. Man it was beautiful, where was this the last three days?!?



I quickly run a bunch of baits out and begin packing camp up and all the gear into the truck, we can't be late because I know Momma's shark is a good one. I allow an extra 2 hours of time for flat tires and unknowns to be sure we get back. Rods did not turn a click but yet again two of them come in with NO bait on them. One of these was a whiting head hooked through the skull...

We haul butt back to check in and finally get there around noon and quickly load up the pics. I peek at the screen and breathe a sigh of relief as I see the pics are there and appear to be viewable. I mention being worried so dude opens a couple up and I see fish and I'm happy. We walk out and Momma looks sick. She looks at me and says she saw the pics of the shark and thinks she was holding the ruler upside down and she's going to be DQ'd. I don't know what to think, but I reason that it should be OK because they can still verify length even if it's upside down. We would find out later that the ruler was fine LOL.

We head over to the awards table and Momma sees the Purple Avet and BuddhaHead rod combo and she is just plain in LOVE with it. She kept going back and looking at it the whole time we were waiting. I try to go show her the kayaks and she didn't care, she was just head over heels for this combo but she thought for sure her fish was DQ'd due to an upside down ruler and almost looked like she wanted to cry.

So we sit through the door prizes and they dance all over our numbers. I mean I had one number they called the number immediately before it and three numbers immediately after it, and then my other number they called the number immediately after it and numbers all around it within two or three. So exciting but it was not meant to be. We get to the winners and my heart starts pounding a little but I don't say anything. They go through some nice fish and finally get down to Women's division. They call the 3rd place shark and it's smaller than Momma's shark! She looks at me and her eyes are HUGE. She's staring at me and she said you mean my fish is actually big enough??? I said hell yeah that's a really good fish! They call 2nd place and she's in shock she doesn't know what to think because it's smaller than hers and JC turns and looks at me with the biggest grin and excited look I've ever seen, I think he was more excited than I was. Momma says if her fish is DQ'd for an upside down ruler she's never going to forgive herself. Then they call her name... She kind of sits and JC and I stand up yelling, Momma is still in shock and I tap her on the shoulder and prod her to get up. I think she finally realized it was real and started screaming and jumping LOL. That red on her face in the pic is a little bit of sunburn, but mostly she's just flush from being so overwhelmed and excited about the win... she was on Cloud 9 all the way home and I don't think she slept all night until her alarm went off at 3:30 for work on Monday.



If you managed to read this far I sincerely apologize for typing so much, didn't mean to but was trying to add details to make this a real "report" write up and I guess I went a little overboard. By the way I didn't proof read this so if anything looks weird feel free to point it out so I can fix it, no way I'm reading through this long arse report.
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JJ

[Bigrock]

Ok...it's official...you're bonafide...a REAL report writer!!!

Great report! and I loved all the details! Telling the tale from the side of your wife's nervousness was a good touch.

Thanks for taking us there! and Congrats to the wife!

[ratherbefishing]

Good report. Kept my attention the whole time.

Don't be shy. You done good.

Way to go Momma!
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[raydfishr]

great report & nice pics , congrats to youur wife
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i do some of my best fishing when i drink,
& my best drinking when i fish

[hickroots07]

Congrats to your wife! My wife was hoping her 54" would be enough to place but it wasnt. She is so pumped and ready to go again! Gotta love it when your favorite fishing buddy is the love of your life! Congrats again cant wait to give yall comp next year!

[justletmein]

Thx guys, she's been on Cloud 9 since Sunday and wants to take the kayak out this weekend already.

roots, that fish would have taken first last year. I think last year's 1st place in Women's was a 29" ray or something.
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JJ

[hickroots07]

Yup last year it would have been a great fish. Not too shabby this year just not quite good enough. Still had a great time though

[JayandCoyote]

Congrats to your wife and all the support staff.
We did not catch much of anything. The only red we caught was Sunday morning around 8:30 and it only went 22.5 inches. I did get a call last night and I found out I won an Avet 80W in the raffle! I guess the luck of the draw made it a great Sharkathon for me.

[Tyler]

Congrats and thanks for the report and pics, Joshua!
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[Chris_Austin]

One of the best reports I've read, really great! And I love the pictures!

Congrats on the win and the awesome fish

[Bluffer]

Nice report n pics.....Congrats on the win!
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-STAY THIRSTY MY FRIENDS!-

[jc]

congrats to Laurie again!

as always, it was a pleasure to fish with you guys...

jc

[wallhanger]

That was a great report. One of those that you read and feel like you are right there watching it. I could litterally feel the emotion of the moment when they called out your wifes name and I wasnt even there. Congrats to your wife. I enjoy fishing with my wife and her success makes me a happy husband so I can imagine the grin that must be on your face.