| PINS Surf Report
Padre Island National Seashore,
TX
February 27th, 2007
Report by Oz |
I finally got the extra time to do some last minute work
on the Kip-mobile and replaced a faulty valve cover. It could not have worked
out at a better time. No sooner than it was completely operatational it was
packed and loaded for the beach. With the fellow Rockstars out of town, I
decided to take advantage of the weather and on later Monday afternoon do
a quick solo trip down the beach. With such a harsh winter along the Texas
coast things were finally starting to heat up a bit. The forecast was looking
good for the next two days and at 1500 hours I departed down to the National
Seashore. Right off the bat when you drove on the beach you encountered and
unusual devastation of sloppy February weed piling up. Was this a tell tale
of things to come or a freak occurance on the North-end?
After getting past the winter-Texans there was hardly anyone
on the beach. I rocked on down and as I approached the high banks found a
resting or injured bird... hard to tell.
Regardless, he allowed me to approach him fairly close without
getting too agitated. This interesting sea bird is actually a juevenile Northern
Gannet. While not totally rare, you don't see them everyday on the island.
A couple more miles down the beach I rock down and come across
Bum's camp who has had a bit of shark activity. A couple miles further I
roll down and find Gabe, Shane, and Brandons camp. They've been shark fishing
for most of the day and have had several runs and already landed a few nice
Blacktips. As I drive up a rod goes off and Gabe jumps out of the yak and
hooks-up.
Almost instantaneously Shane is hooked up on the north end of
the camp. After a short fight Gabe gets in a fat 5'9" Blacktip. A couple
pics and the shark is tagged and released to soon pup.
Gabe told me one of the reasons the guys stopped at this location
is because they found a couple Cownose Rays beaching themselves for whatever
reason...whether it were some navigational mis-direction or evading the predatory
sharks is unknown, but they made for great bait.
After Shane landed his carbon-copy Blacktip, I decided that
despite the rocking activity I'd still roll down south a few miles. A mile
or two south of their camp I come across a Cow-nosed Ray just washed up...
I thought 'score!!!'.
This is just the beginning of the lotto-bait-streak. While I
can hardly get my hands on them in the summertime, it is raining bait galore.
Every half-mile there are rays washing up on the beach. All averaging about
5-10lbs+. The ray activity stopped around the 35mm and think I found
just one or two south of that. Regardless, I continue cruising down and finally
find a place I want to call home. The water is looking great but the sun
already set so I decide to grab all the rays (or so I thought...leaving about
5 somewhere in the bed of the truck) and grab a quick pic of the Valkrie
in fighter formation.
At the time I was taking the pic another ray shortly washed
beached himself and flopping within just feet of his corraled buddies...
boy did he wash up in the wrong camp!!! When all said and done
for the days tally, I think I had about 18 rays, most already iced down.
I soon get to work and since I have already obtained a bait supply
I decide to cast out a couple rods. Night night started off roaring as the
baits would be picked up for what it seemed every 30 minutes to an hour
throughout the night. Sharks big and small were grabbing the baits but just
not hooking up. Finally I get hooked up and beach a 'pinner' Blacktip.
The shark is quickly released and another bait gets cast back
out. I get a couple more runs after without hookups and leave a couple other
baits out for the rest of the night.
Morning comes and with it a concentration of sea-fog. Personally,
I have never been too fond of fog for shark fishing in it proves not too
successful and the fog does seem to turn the bite off. But I get straight
to the grind and get 4 baits lined up and rigged including a whole ray like
below.
The camp is up and the rods are out. Not hardly a soul within
miles and just the way I like it. Despite the beautiful water conditions
the action the first hour is slow on money baits and not consistent
like the previous night.
I miss a run or two and then finally some point in the morning things
liven up. A bait gets picked up a wing section then dropped it then
picked it up again and finally I end up nailing another pinner Blacktip
at 5'4". The shark appeared to have some fresh wounds either mating scars
or a vicious attack.
The wounds still appear relatively fresh.
Shortly after I get the super-six picked up with the whole
ray. I could tell something was playing with it but waited for him to take
it. He finally started swimming with it a few seconds and then I nailed him
with the hook-set. Fish ON!!
Instantly without a doubt I knew it was a good solid fish.
I pretty much knew I was dealing with a Sandbar or a Feb. Bull Shark. The
fight was slow and steady and in about 15 minutes I had a large Sandbar in
the wade gut. I jumped down from the truck and leadered the badboy to the
waters edge. It had one hook dead center of the jaw and came out fairly easy
with the pliers. Got the tag and measured the fat mama to a solid 7'5" which
may have well hit the 200# mark on the scale. Got the camera and took a quick
picture on self-timer mode.
This picture helps a bit more to show the massive girth and
appreciate the size of this beast. I was able to manage and release the shark
solo to where she swam off back to the inshore's coastal depths. Fortunately
for myself and the shark things went well and I was able to land and release
probably my biggest 'solo' shark from the beach.
I get back to it and rig up another whole ray and it is soon deployed.
About 30 minutes later the weight unloads and comes free on
the bait. With no drag taken the bait is simply picked up and dropped. With
it drifting in slowly I eventually bring it back in to find the remnants
of silent chaos. For whatever reason the shark (probably a big Bull) picked
the bait up from underneath and head first not allowing any type of hookset.
I would eventually run the bait back out.
In the late afternoon with the action slowly starting to pick
up, Repo and Mickey make it down to hang out for a couple hours. Around
that time the bait above gets picked up and rocked a couple more times then
dropped. As I was messing with that rod another goes off and am hooked up
on an aerial shark that exlpodes several times on the surface which picked
up a chunk of ray in the 2nd gut. After several minutes I get a slightly
better Blacktip at 5'11" to beach. A couple quick pics and she is released
hopefully to soon in the coming weeks.
Within the coming hours baits would get blasted left and right
but the stubborn pregnant sharks like to just hold on to the bait and not
eat it. Just after dark I get a large chunk of ray picked up and knew this
shark was hooked. Having a little more mass on it I chased it down when finally
getting it in close.
About 50 yards down the beach we finally get the shark into
the wade guy and to the waters edge. Repo hops in and begins to leader what
appears to be the first Bull Shark of the trip.
Sure enough, it ended up being a fat and healthy female Bull
Shark taking one of the larger baits. The 6'5" Bull nailed the bait and has
a 20/0 circle not penetrated but stuck around the jaw. After a few attempts
we are able to remove the hook and release her back into the water.
Repo and Mickey hang around for about 30 more minutes and then
decide head back off the beach. I leave 4 rods out in hopes for another
shark. The action from then on is fairly slow. At 1am in the morning I get
a wakeup call as a wide-4/0 gets nailed in the 2nd gut. It was a strong and
aggressive fish but after a few minutes proved to be only a feisty 5'10"
Bull in the heavy fog.
I left the rest of the rods out and all got picked up or hit
and ended up getting cut off on whatever remained of the whole ray bait.
Around sunrise I packed it up and headed off the beach. A few miles down
I found what was either the same or another Northern Gannet resting on the
beach.
If it were the same one then it was likely just tired or stressed
for it was located nearly 15 miles south of its original location.
I grabbed a couple more pics and continued to head off the beach
picking up one more Cownose Ray, this time a grander. As I get back north
towards the 'Y' the seaweed is already piling up. Traditionally, a rare sight
in February. Hopefully the South-Southeast winds will last long enough to
push it up north and rid us of the chaos.
Overall it was a fun trip to get back on the beach and see an
ar'ray' of surf activity. The water looked great, the Sandbars are still
around, and the Bull Sharks are making a freak February appearance. Nothing
seems to go by the book any longer in regards to historic nature activity
on the beach... conditions are changing and so are the patterns and species
that inhabit the coastal waters.
Hope to get back out on the sand soon....
- Oz
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