Corpusfishing.com

[ShawnQ]

(Tyler, feel free to use any pics or text in your report)

http://www.lonestarsharkers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=6026#6026

On Tuesday of last week, I began looking at the wave and wind predictions for the upcoming weekend, just as I do every week. The predictions were looking excellent, with very light winds under 10mph, and waves at 3 feet or less for the whole weekend. Generally I don't get too excited over weekend forecasts early in the week, because the waves usually double in height, and the wind usually triples in speed by the time I decide to head to the beach. However, with conditions predicted to be so calm - even if they tripled it would still be fishable

So, I anxiously awaited Friday afternoon, as usual. Friday morning when I got to work, the predictions still showed a very calm weekend with primo fishing conditions. The only unknown variable was sargassum. Throughout the week, Puretexn and I had been talking and we planned to meet up at Twiztedrod's camp on Friday night and go from there. I was having trouble finding a co-pilot all week long, had a few people commit and then back out, and finally got GarrettQ talked into riding along with his big brother. He would later be glad that he decided to come along.

Around 11pm we left the blacktop, hit the sand, and we were immediately greeted by calm water, clear skies (after a rainy week), and a 1-2ft high pile of Fresh Sargassum . 4 of the 5 W's (Wind,Waves,Weather,Women,Weed) were in our favor this weekend...but there always seems to be one of the W's that will try and break a trip. This weekend it appeared the Weed was going to try and ruin it, and for some it did.

After a VERY bumpy ride, although 2wd the whole way, we made it down to Earl's camp in the mid 20's. Phil and a friend of his had just finished reeling in a few rods that were heavily weeded out, and his friend packed it up for the night and drove home. After BS'ing and chatting for a while, Puretexn shows up earlier than usual (1:45am). After a little more BS'ing and rummaging around, I find a message in a bottle near the dune line under a hard hat. It had some kind of clue about something hidden, and I was too tired to try and find the hidden object, so I put the message in a bottle back where I found it for the next guy. Earl and Jen decided to crash out, and Puretexn and I discussed possibly driving southbound after Phil told us that the weed cleared up a bit in the mid 30's.

At around 2:45a.m, we bid our farewells, turned the diesels over, pointed our trucks towards Port Mansfield and slowly made our way south trying to take advantage of the low tide. We stopped at a few good looking areas with a lot of structure, a small amount of weed, and a promising vibe - but we still decided we should go ahead and drive on to the jetties since we were more than halfway there anyways. After a few stops to check out areas in the 30's and 40's, we hit the jetties around 4:45a.m.

There were two other camps at the jetties, one large and one small. We parked a few hundred yards away. By now, Garrett had been crashed out in the truck for a few hours which I would later appreciate. He was all tuckered out and slept through the whole bumpy ride from Earl's camp to the jetties, impressive! Bruce and I got out, scanned the water, and both decided that we couldn't go to bed without at least attempting some top waters off the rocks. After applying copious amounts of bug spray needed due to the lack of wind, we rigged up, headed over to the jetties, and started walking the dogs. We probably tossed lures for a good hour before Bruce walked to the top of the jetty and told me he was headed for the truck. Just when he said that, I had a solid hook up that jumped and tossed my top-dog at me - most definitely a large skipjack! That's all it took for Bruce to stick around...it's a sickness

As the sun started to peek over the horizon, the action seemed to pick up a bit. By now we were both working topwaters, and both having blowups, followers, and hits - but no hookups. I changed over to the channel side as Bruce worked the Surf. By now I could see fairly well, and noticed something odd in the water - it looked like trash but it had lifelike movements. I moved closer to the water and realized it was an octopus, sweet! Bait was getting busted all around us by those hectic skippies, but they were tough to entice. I ended up hooking and losing a few after I switched to a storm swimbait. I finally landed one, followed by Bruce landing a 16" redfish. By now it was close to 7am...and we realized that we could sit here and fish for skipjacks all day, or we could get down to business. We headed off the jetties just as the camps began fishing. We arrived back to the trucks as the sun started to rise and boats raced through the jetties to take advantage of the flat seas. After debating on whether or not to deploy the shark rods here at the jetties, and remembering the dead reports and experiences from the jetties during the previous few weeks, we opted to head north to more promising waters.



Quarter to eight, we were passing the nic....The water looked great, so I snapped a Pic.



Without sleep since Thursday Night, Bruce and I found a nice spot in the 40's just as GQ started waking up. Bait and birds were working, Spanish Macks were jumping, all looked well. With hopes of getting into a frenzy of smacks or skips, I immediately unloaded the yak, rigged up, and headed out beyond the breakers. I took a 6/0 along with a shark leader with the intention of drifting a skippie if I could catch one, but didn't have much luck. There was bait and fish all around me, mostly Spanish Macks, but I couldn't get them too take my offerings. I was throwing a few different spoons, but I'm afraid they were all too large compared to the small bait they were eating - they didn't quite match the hatch. After a short lull in the action, I decided to head back in and get a few shark baits in the water. I snapped this pic from beyond the breakers on my way in:



When I made it back to the beach, Garrett was busy making a leader to deploy on his 4-wide. Bruce was working a bait rig in hopes of a fresh skipjack, whiting, or whatever he could get. He was having minimal luck, only hardheads. I told him there was a ton of skipjacks from the previous week in my cooler, but he wanted a fresh one. Garrett finished his leader and rigged half of the skipjack I had caught that morning on the jetties, and quickly deployed it. After manning his reel while he paddled the bait, I began readying my artillery. By now it was 10:45am, GQ had a bait soaking, Bruce was trying to catch fresh bait, and I was trying to get a bait ready.

Around 11a.m., I had two rods loaded with frozen skips, hopped in the yak, and sent them on their way. On my way back in from deploying the 2nd rod, I see Garrett run over to my first rod and frantically start cranking as if he was trying to catch up to a fish. However, he could never catch it because the line was cut - I assume by a smack as it hit me on the mainline. After this happened, and due to a lack of sleep, I was a bit un-motivated. I began to set up the tent-cot for a much needed nap. I was going to settle with one bait out, eat a sandwhich, nap for a few hours, and then wake up and rig and deploy a few monster baits. Just as I was ready for a nap, I told Garrett I would make him a sandwhich if he'd bring me the bread. I had my tentcot setup in the bed of my truck to keep the sand off. Just as he opened the door of the truck to get the bread out, his 4/wide starts to sing that sweet sound. He runs over to it with a vengeance, slowly leans back on it and starts cranking with a big smile on his face I leap out of my tent cot and out of the bed of my truck in one motion, and take him the fighting belt.

11:26a.m. - GQ Hooked up to his first beach shark (except for a pup).



After a good initial run, a few short bursts in the 1st gut, this feisty 5'3" jaw-hooked female blacktip was subdued in short time.

Here's a very pleased and proud Garrett doing his best Mako(Gabe) Impression:



Here's a shot from the business end:



After a quick measurement and a tag, the fine girl was released and swam away quickly and healthy.

Needless to say, that nap was the least of my concern at this point - and I wouldn't think about sleeping again for the better part of the day. After getting cut-off on one of my rods earlier, I decided to leave it in and not bother re-rigging due to lack of sleep mostly. However, now that I knew the blacktips were around - I quickly put another top shot on it, and re-rigged it as well as another rod for Garrett. As I was in the middle of building the leaders for the other two rods, the bait I had out gets a pretty solid run on it and I hook up!

11:45a.m. - ShawnQ hooked up!

After a quick battle with nothing more than a small amount of tug-o-war, Bruce leaders another feisty female blacktip with a 16/0 circle hanging out of the corner of her mouth.




Pull the hook, place the tag, and this 4'6" girl was on her way...wait a minute, she's trapped in the wade gut. Catch her by the tail, take her over the bar AGAIN, and finally she heads back out to sea.

Satisfied, relieved, thankful, and anxious for more were just a few words that would've described Garrett and I after we finally beached a few decent sharks. It's been TOO long since we've had a decent trip, and this one was shaping up nicely in our favor. I quickly got back to rigging the other two rods I was rigging before my run, re-baited the rod I just hooked up on, and got ready to run all three of them out.

Just before I went to paddle the baits, I snapped this pic - nice conditions, what weed?



By now, Bruce had finally landed a nice skippy - and he was ready to get into the action. He rigged them up, and Garrett paddled them out, both at the same time.

I then proceeded to paddle baits, one at a time. I dropped off the first, dropped off the second, and paddled back in towards the beach. As I was paddling in, I see Garrett run over to the first rod and began cranking on it...then puts it back in the holder. I got to the beach and he said he thinks a wave just pulled some line because he had it set loose. As I walk away it starts to scream and I grab ahold of it. This fish pulled line fast enough to make a small birdsnest in my Long Beach 68!

1:27pm - ShawnQ Hooked up!

This fish took a couple of VERY nice runs for its size, I was impressed! Towards the end of the battle, the fish tangled in both of Bruce's lines - and it kept the fish from battling too much - but felt very heavy. I thought it may be larger until I realised it was tangled in Bruce's lines and pulling his weights in with it. Bruce was again the leaderman, and we brought another nice 5'2" Female blacktip to the beach.





You know the routine - measure, tag, unhook, pics, release - she swam away nicely, and we were ready for more. By now we had a pretty quick system and were getting very efficient at CPR'ing these fish.

When I was finished releasing my shark, I grabbed a bottle of water and had a quick break. Shortly after I decided to re-bait and try for another one. I began to sort through my leader, get it untangled, and get it ready again - and realized that my Long Beach 68 was locked up, wouldn't turn a click

I guess either the drag washers or bearing froze up - or something. I noticed while I was fighting the last shark that it was getting a little harder to reel, but I figured maybe I didn't levelwind the line good enough and had my topshot rubbing a post. Apparently I was wrong. I am going to tear it down today and try to find the culprit for the stuck reel - any ideas?

After I realized that reel was unfishable, I began to rig another one. As I was rigging it, Garrett brought to my attention that I had forgot all about the 3rd bait I rigged earlier on a 4/0 for Garrett. So, he decided to run it out while I manned the reel for him. After he dropped it, his 4/wide that was already deployed went slack and fell down into the rod holder. I thought maybe it was cut, or maybe it was a small amount of weed that I could see on the line. I took a few turns of the handle as Garrett was paddling in, and thought I felt a headshake but wasn't sure. I held onto it until Garrett got back on the beach and handed it to him.

Sure enough, as soon as I handed it to him, the reel exploded into a pretty good run! This fish was as good as his first one in the fight department, maybe a little better. Again, an ear to ear grin as GQ was battling toothy #2 for the day.

1:56p.m. - GQ Hooked up again!



Garrett made short work of this blacktip after the intial run, brought her to the beach where Bruce, AGAIN, did a fine job as leaderman. Same story, different shark - unhook, tag, pics, release.




Two for me, two for Garrett, and none for Bruce..but who's counting? We're all having a damn fine time despite the lack of sleep and Bruce's lack of luck up until this point. Initially, he didn't have anything out there that could get hit. He then deployed two baits, and they got tangled with my second shark. It was his turn, and I willingly offered to redeploy his baits for him after my shark drug them in a bit. I was thinking they weren't far enough out - so I took them a little further.

The first to go out was the 535 mag loaded with power pro with a chunk of skippy. I took it out, found a nice spot for it, dropped it, and headed back in. I hit the sand, immediately put the big skippy on his 6/0 in the kayak, attached the weight, and started to paddle it out. I made two strokes of the paddle and realize that Bruce is hooked up on his 535, damn that was quick!

As I scramble to get back to the beach, I hear Bruce saying "It's going airborne, check it out! It's a tarpon!" I get back on the beach and I see it do a complete flip out of the water - but couldn't tell if it was a tarpon or a blacktip because it was a good ways off the beach. It looked like a blacktip to me, but it was too far to tell. All that matters is that Bruce was hooked up, LSS Style! (check the shirt!)



However, shortly after, it jumped again and spit the hook - a 16/0 circle. Doh!

Revenge wouldn't be long away as I quickly re-deployed another chunk of bait for him. Less than 15 minutes goes by, and he hooked up again! Game on! This one went airborne as well, and was definitely a shark. He battled it for about 5-10minutes, had it in the first gut to where I could see a silhouette. However, it had wrapped around his 6/0's line and I was worried about the line breaking on his 535 with the fish on it. He had power pro, so I wasn't too concerned...until he got into his mono topshot. I waded out to the bar and tried to see how to go about getting it untangled, without ever touching the line, and it popped - DA** IT! I could clearly see that it was going to be the largest shark of the day - not a monster by any means, but larger than the others. Unfortunately for Bruce, it just wasn't meant to be.

By this time, the weed was starting to move in pretty steadily. Each of us still had at least one bait out, and they were holding for the moment. Throughout the day, there was a LOT of weed in the water - but because there was minimal wind, minimal waves, and minimal current, the weed wasn't moving much - thus your lines would stay clear. However, the wind began to pick up in the evening just enough to push the weed around a bit, and the maintenance began. By 4pm, we didn't have any other runs, the action slowed a bit, and I decided to try to get a nap before the evening. The plan was to check conditions when I awoke, and rig and deploy a few monster baits if I felt comfortable with the weed situation. I got into the tent-cot around 4:15pm, and shortly after catching a few skippies, Garrett and Bruce crashed out as well.

Around 5:30pm, I was awakened to the sound of a bite alarm going off on the 4/0 Garrett had out which was 200yds north of camp. I hop out of the tent cot and sprint down to it while the other guys are still crashed out, pull it out of the rod holder and feel what was undoubtedly a fish on the other end. However, there was a good amount of weed on the line and I lost the fish while trying to clear the weed and fight the fish at the same time. I guess you can't win them all!

Just as I was finished reeling the line in, and getting the 300+lbs of weed off, the other alarm rings out. This one is on the rod that is sitting in my 6-pack rod holder on the front end of the truck. Garrett is sitting right next to it in the shade, and it wakes him up. Dazed and confused, Garrett looks around trying to figure out where the damn noise is coming from! Bruce is sitting in his drivers seat, also awakened, and laughing his arse off at Garrett's sleep-deprevation-drunkenness! Classic! He finally comes to, and I believe this alarm was caused by a bunch of weed pulling the line - but I'm not sure.

Needless to say, all of our rods were now covered with weed, the beach was beginning to grow a stack of weed, and there was mats in the water. I wasn't going to waste time rigging and risk losing a big bait/rig in these kinds of conditions. We had very little sleep, a long day in the sun, and what looked like poor conditions beginning - so Garrett and I began to pack it up and call it a day. Bruce decided there wasn't much reason to hang out either, and he did the same.

By 6:45pm, we were loaded up, and headed north bound! The driving was becoming increasing bad the further north we got - very rutted up, lots of soft areas, and a weed covered low road and wade gut. However, there were birds and what we assume were skipjacks working anchovies almost all the way north.

Somewhere around the 30mm, I stop because the action in the 1st gut is a good bit more intense then the average. As soon as I get out of the truck, I see a dorsal and a tail slashing through about 1ft of water right next to the first bar. The first bar was completely exposed with the low tide, and the sharks were in the midst of one hell of a frenzy! I stopped counting at 26 sharks, there were probably more than twice that spotted. The weed was extremely thick, but Bruce and I both grabbed a rod and slung a chunk of skipjack out only to have our lines covered with weed. Dang! Sharks everywhere and we can't catch one! That's a hell of a sight to see, but it sure is a crappy feeling when you can't get a hit - kind of like fishing a big bass on a bed that wont touch anything you offer it. I ended up catching two skipjacks...one of them, I set the hook well, and let it swim around a bit - it did get mauled by a shark, but I had it on a spoon so the odds of a hookup were slim. Cool either way

After watching dozens of 5-6' sharks come within 5ft of me for several minutes, and realizing there was nothing we could do to catch them - we all decided to call it a day and head out. I was unable to get any good pictures of the sharks - but I may have captured a few in the video. I'll have to look through it all later and see if can find them and clip a few stills out of the vid.

After a short stop to talk to Cuda around the 22mm who reported a few nice topwater trout and smacks, and one run/drop, 'tough PITA, but fishable' weed, we continued north and called it a trip after a long bouncy drive.

It was a bit of a 'shotgun' trip, short, no sleep, kamikaze style - but it was definitely worth the effort!

Thanks to Earl, Jen, Phil, Garrett and Bruce for the good friends and good fun, Thanks to Garrett and Bruce for the help with the sharks, and lets do it again! It's great practice for the 'monster' days



SQ

[Tyler]

Great report and nice pictures. Looks like you got paid back for your Memorial Day Weekend trip.

Thanks!
Tyler

[ShawnQ]

[Tyler]

[Troy]

The trout went into the land cut on the last full moon - I had two buddies fishing around Yarborough (inside) late last week and the week before - 100 blowups per day in knee deep water!!!! The trout were on the beach in late April May in that horrible wind but offered workable numbers. AH, light wind and high temperatures make for very good surf and jettie trout come late June - July.....keep your hooks sharp.
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[ShawnQ]

[Tyler]

[ShawnQ]

[FINS]

Nice report, long but all worth it. U can't win them all but when u do win its always well worth the losses.