Slept in the next morning so didnt get rolling til about 8:00. We made pretty good time for how much stuff we were haulin. We picked up a 6lbs of shrimp in Corpus then hit PINS and the hour beach drive. After pulling up on the beach it was everything we were hoping for, that water looked awesome so were super stoked at this point.
Met up with jawsandhooks around the 40 and gave him some bait and got a little pre report. Then trucked on a couple miles and immediatley set up camp and started catching bait.
Evan didnt have much of a problem he hooked up with two good sized sheepies and a big drum right at 29".
With a little help from Dilan and I we got the bait chest loaded with whiting as well.
Unfortunately our fun excitement soon came to a hault. After a beast 500+ yard drop on my 14/0, it was shortly wiped out with a killer current and a ton of sargassum. We tried to run out the 6/0s on the 12' rods out short as well just to see if we could have a line in the water but that didnt work out either so we just got settled in and tried to get the camp ready for the rain storm we knew was comin in later that night. After a long day it wasn’t too hard to fall asleep, we were all out by 10:00 then I was awaken in the early AM by Hurricane Ike Jr. Eventually the bad stuff passed and I was able to catch some z’s but once again woke up with not too much to look forward to. The temp dropped to the low 60s and there was a constant drizzle til about 5:00. The current was still kicken and there were now 4-6ft waves but it was all chop so I couldn’t even surf, and it was almost impossible to take the kayak out as well. We spent a majority of the day messing around. Had some fun with shark alarm pranks, horse shoes, and over all just actin like idiots with nothing to do.
By the end of the day the surf calmed down a little bit and the sun came out so by sunset I was able to convince Eric to take experimental bait out, to see if the sargassum and current would cooperate. It appeared to be just a bad day for fishing in general so we shut the camp down around 10:00. About half an hour after going to sleep everyone was awoken by Eric’s shark alarm. He made it to the rod spike in record time and he sets the hook. YES SHARK ON!!!
Eric had a pretty good 20 minute fight with out a fighting belt. He prevailed and I went and leadered the bad boy and popped the hook out. Then Eric got his pics with his first shark a Sandbar at 5’6”. Eric set him free and then we proceeded to the next day very excited.
We awoke the next day to a lot better conditions and got to work getting the spread out immediately. Evan started out the day by nailing a nice slot red that provided us with a tasty lunch.
In the late morning Dilan’s 9/0 went slack and he made quick work of his first shark a blacknose at 4’10.
The best part about this is pretty funny. I have been fishing with Dilan for 2 years now I believe, and he has been constantly plagued by bad luck. Whenever he has hooked up hes been broke off or the shark would spit the hook. I’ve even passed off some of my own sharks to him and they still find a way off the hook. But he has always had a positive attitude and a pleasure to be around. His luck turned around this time he managed to reel this shark in from a 450 yard drop without setting the hook! The shark just clamped down on the bait and never let go for the whole ride in hahahahaha.
Shortly after Evan knocked out his first shark of the trip a 4’10 twin of Dilan’s previous catch.
The rest of the day the fishing was very slow but we managed to get enough bait to take all the baits in and replace them with fresh bait. I proceeded to make sure we had seven baits yaked out that night.
Unfortunately my efforts were useless the baits sat untouched. Day 4 proved to be the best day yet the conditions were beautiful.
Evan started the day right and landed a 3.5’ sharpnose on his surf rod.
Shortly after he starts to pull in another shark. At this time Dilan, myself, and Sebastian were messin around on the dunes when we hear Eric’s 9/0 start screaming! I hustle down to help and Evan puts a 4’6 blacknose on the beach
and Eric soon follows with a FAT 5’8 Black Tip.
We do a quick CPR and they went off to terrorize the surf once more.
We spent the afternoon praying for some whiting but they were nowhere to be found. Mid afternoon my 6/0 finally got hit on a small whiting just behind the third bar. I got started on the best game of tug of war I’ve ever had. After the struggle I finally beached the fatty. It was well worth the wait to finally hook up with the largest shark of the trip. A Black Tip at 5’10 and a 35” girth.
Not bad for a 6/0 on a surf rod! We didn’t get to relax long once the sun started to set. Evan hooked up yet again on his 6/0 surf rod combo. He put his best shark to date on the beach a 5’7 Bull shark.
From this point the conditions once again worsened with weed and current making it unfishable. We spent the rest of our time sharing stories around the camp fire and having a good time. Packed up first thing Friday morning and got outta there for a much needed hot meal and shower. Over all it was one of the best spring breaks I’ve ever had, and as always it was a great time with great friends. Thanks for reading
-Zach
