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Yak Daniels · Horse Mullet Joined: 25 Sep 2013 Posts: 148

Friday, April 22

The weekend started a little early for me when by buddy Trevor and I loaded up and left the house by 1pm to meet another bud Cody down the beach who had been there for a day or two already. Once we hit the sand it was immediately evident that we were not the only ones with the beach in mind for what was to be a gorgeous weekend before the storms blew in. With a fresh jack that Cody had just caught and the surplus of baits from my freezer we immediately went to attempting to catch some fresh bait. Though the many, many shrimp went into the water, only a couple whiting were pulled out that first day. While still struggling to get fresh bait, we rigged up a whiting head on a casted 6/0 and a thawed out bait on my 4 wide, all the while getting the fresh jack rigged for the evening. It did not take long and the 6 started singing. Cody jumped up and made quick work of a 5'8.5" female blacktip. Got the tag, measurements and a quick photo (which are on his phone) and got her back on her way. Getting a bit antsy we dropped a close bait in the second gut on my 6 wide. It would have gone out farther but the swells were picking up and the wind was getting fierce. Mine doesn't sit for 15 minutes before it gets picked up.

A 10 minute fight yielded a 5'4" female blacktip.

Tag, fin clip, measurements and a few pics and she is back in the water. Well, as the saying goes (thanks Becky), "You catch one, you cast one." With only one line in the water at the time, Trevor and I get our rigs ready and cast baits out. We definitely would have paddled baits but at this location the swells were not cooperating and since they were hitting cast baits why argue with the customer?

Not 10 minutes later another casted bait takes off and Trevor jumps on the rack. What we initially thought to be a bigger female blacktip turns out to be a really pissed off 4'10" female.

Tag, measurements and a quick pic and she was on her way to grow into the terror that she really thinks that she is. While removing the hook and getting measurements the casted 4 wide i just put out on the second bar starts singing a song that was heard over the increasing wind and surf. I sprinted to the truck, dodging baits and other gear strewn about camp to scale up the rack before she dropped it. Knowing that this was just 4' of coated cable tied to 200 lb braid, I did not want to risk him hitting the braid too hard. I grabbed the rod and slowly tightened the drag allowing the circle to get a perfect placement in the corner of the jaw. As soon as the hook was set I realized that this was no 5' blacktip. Since the female blacktips were in, I figured it was just a very pregnant >6' girl. After taking an initial 150 yards of 200lb/100lb braid I finally managed to slow him down somewhere around the other side of the third bar. As soon as the dorsal broke the surface on the second bar I knew we had a good bull on the line. After a bull dog of a fight around every bar, 20 minutes later we got him close enough for Trevor and Cody to get a tail rope on him. After measurements, tag, fin clip and pics we got in a new personal best for me on cast baits, a 6'6" male bull caught on the second bar.

4 sharks on the sand and we've been here for only 5 hours! Already a great trip! After a round of high fives and some adult beverages we get more baits out but it seems as though the bite hour has came and went. Oh well, time to gather up fire wood and build ourselves a little fire. Around 9, Cody tries his hand at catching some fresh bait and after 20 minutes of shrimp soaking he got a nice little run on my Shimano Triton Mark 1. 5 Minutes in and it's sucking the first bar pretty hard. Once he got it in we saw that it was a very pregnant female southern about 24" wingspan. Not wanting to deal with her being a mother-to-be any sooner than she did, we get her back in the water as fast as we could. This would end up being the last action of Friday night.

Saturday, April 23rd
Morning came and the conditions were perfect. Clear water, low current and small surf, what a 180 from the previous evening. Cody takes off rather early to run around try to catch bait while Trevor and I begin to get some of the previously rigged baits out that were not able to go out the day before. Knowing how clear the water was, I put my bigger baits out a minimum of 500 yards. Well, The morning was slow and the bait bite was even slower. Around noonish I saw Cody's truck about a mile down heading back to camp and as soon as he got within sight of camp my 50 that I had out about 550 yards started taking off. I jump up on the rack and get the belt on. It initially started taking line very slowly. That is, until I hit it with a solid hook set. It did not like that at all and took off heading to the rigs.

After a good 25 minute fight and bringing it in 500 yards I saw the spacing between the dorsal and tail and knew it was a 7' class bull, at least. Once the tail rope was secured by Trevor, I jumped down and ran to help them finish landing it. Got the tag and measurements and landed the biggest shark of the trip, so far. A 7'6.5" male bull.

After the successful release, I asked Cody how the bait mission was and he just smiled. thinking that this means he hit the jack-pot (really, hoping that he found the jacks) he just held up a single blue runner. Not even a good size at that. I asked where the rest of his baits were and he just laughed and said that he couldn't land anything. Hell, turns out that someone gave him the only fish that he came back with! Well, that was very anticlimactic.

We get to re-rigging baits and replace the other big bait that I had out. Right around 630pm the same 50w takes off again. Get strapped in and this guy was not liking the hook in his jaw. He came in to the second gut relatively fast but then just stopped. After dodging the bar for about 15 minutes I dropped it in low gear and winched him on over. The guys got the tail rope around her and I jumped down for the landing. Easy hook removal, tag and measurements and I have a new PB although matching the length at 7'8" this guys girth was 51.5", 7.5" bigger.

Estimated around 305lbs, it took both Trevor and I to drag him back in. After walking him out for only 5 minutes he took off.

After landing him I decided that I needed to get another bait out and see if the casted bite is back. With the wind, current and surf building, I knew that this night was going to be hell for my lines. With one line getting taken out by 11pm by a rope lost offshore, we were down to one long bait and two in the second gut.

Sunday, April 24th
At 2am we were woken up to Cody's 6 in the second gut with a jack mid section that was previously frozen, taking off. He is up on the rack before I even realize what is going on.

This shark was wreaking havoc on our lines making me go up and help with Cody with the bob and weave between the others. Every time that it looked like it was getting close to leadering distance he would just burn off another 100 yards at will. After a 45 minute fight and walking 200 yards each side up camp chasing it we finally get him close enough for me to leader him in the first gut. Being 150 yards North of camp I had grabbed my backpack with the landing gear and threw it on the beach by us and Cody ran down just in time for the photo shoot. As soon as I started to work on getting the hook out I realized that the circle had gone completely around the lower jaw and just cut the mono leader and gave him the jewelry.

Coming in at 7'7" male bull, Cody caught his biggest bull to date. Walking him back out, I was worried that he would not take off well but he was ready to get the hell away from us before making it over the first bar. A round of high fives and all of us were exhausted. Cody more so. Not two hours later we had a nice wake up call in the middle of the storm that had rolled through. The 6 wide, dropped in the second gut with a cownose wing took for for about 5 seconds before being dropped. I reset the remaining lines and headed back to bed.

This would be it for any excitement around our camp but we could not be happier. Cody has not been down this way in a while and has been stuck up North for too long and Trevor had just finished his last semester of PT school in Austin and comes down every break that he has. It was a great trip and we are all stoked. 7 sharks on the weekend, who could be upset with that?
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-Pat

david weber · Bear Mullet Joined: 29 Nov 2012 Posts: 118

Super Report!

deputydawg · Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 3:59 pm Post subject:

Great report! Thanks!

ironmanstan · Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 6:06 pm Post subject:

Nice sharks, great pics, and a fine report. Keep it up. Very Happy

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poco bueno · Pony Mullet Joined: 09 Apr 2013 Posts: 87

Awesome recap!! We were down there those same days but not much luck on our side. We fished at 33. We caught plenty of huge whiting but only a few runs with no hookups. Congrats to you guys.

Ray

Tyler · Site Admin Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 12864

Nice report! The sharks were thick down south. That thunderstorm line early Sunday ran a lot of folks of off.
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ziacatcher · Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 9:49 pm Post subject:

Awesome report and pics. Thanks!

RiPPin LiPS · Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2016 6:21 am Post subject:

BADASS job bro, those are some nice bulls!!

And it was nice meeting you the other day neighbor... Lets go tear em up!!
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Rebecca of Sunnybrookfarm · Full Grown Flour Bluffian Joined: 01 May 2008 Posts: 3932

EPIC TRIP GENTLEMEN!!
becky
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mesquitecountry · Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2016 9:47 am Post subject:

Awesome stuff!!

shallowsport · Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2016 10:03 am Post subject:

Wow! What a fun read. If it was that much fun to read being there had to be a blast. Pictures made it epic
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OSO YAKMAN · Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2016 2:19 pm Post subject:

Sweet report and awesome pictures. Thanks for sharing.
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hickroots07 · Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 7:19 am Post subject:

Congrats Pat! It was a fun trip. Glad we got to get some on the sand!
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gut bucket · Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 2:45 pm Post subject:

That's awesome pat!! Great read! Me and Joey been wanting to make a trip down! Again awesome

gut bucket · Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 2:46 pm Post subject:

That's awesome pat!! Great read! Me and Joey been wanting to make a trip down! Again awesome