| It was several days ago when we decided to brave the unclear
springtime conditions and hit the beach in search of some toothies. Kip,
Shindle, and Scott rolled down Tuesday and I followed to meet up with them
Wednesday morning. I woke up and hit the beach by 8am greeted by heavy fog.
I get down south of Big Shell and pass up James who had landed a nice 7'4"
Sandbar a couple days earlier, and then pass up Tunakilla and friends who
got down just ahead of me. I rock further and figure the guys would be at
the jetties. The fog is clearing up and the water is starting to look mighty
nice despite being a bit dirty.
I finally run into Kip, Scott, and Shindle who ran back up north from the
jetties where they stayed the previous night. They were getting their camp
set up and decided to rock back north a bit to find a good gut to pull some
bait out of. I pick up a few grander Whiting and a nice healthy Pomp who's
fate has already been sealed.
Meanwhile, Kip had already hooked up at their camp and landed and released
a 5 1/2' Sandbar.
I catch enough bait for the day and slowly begin rigging up a few separate
baits. When I get done rigging I am about to run them out only to look up
to see massive amounts of weed getting pushed in. I immediately pack up and
head back south and come up on their main camp again.
I pass them again going south this time trying to evade the weed and find
myself about a mile south of them. After I pass through, Scott gets hooked
up and fights a solid fish for several minutes before the hook pulled.
Since I already had the baits rigged from earlier, I decide to risk it and
run out the arsenal. Less weed and a nice color change out deep. Things are
looking up.
Within a couple hours I am getting baits blasted left and right but nothing
is hooking up. Kip ends up rocking down and we combine camps as Scott and
Shindle leave the beach. After a while I finally get a shark in... a small
4'10" Sandbar.
It is getting dark and I run another bait pushing my way over the 3rd bar.
I get back and am hooked up on another Sandbar. After a short fight I get
a slightly larger one to the beach at 6'3". This ends up being another nice
Male for the species.
Had a couple more baits get hit but no hookups. Leave the remaining baits
out until sunrise. The next morning we are low on bait and begin early on
a bait mission. For some reason we cannot buy a Whiting or anything. Just
when I thought I bagged a bait it turns out to be a Striped Burrfish with
the same length as the current State Record however this one was released.
Kip runs a couple baits that he brought with him and I ran back up north
a couple miles to find a better spot for bait. I begin getting a couple Whiting
then Jackpot! I land a primo size Ray for slab bait.
I fished there for about an hour trying to rack up bait but the bite turned
off as the current began to rock. I drove back south and met up with Kip
to get some baits out for dark. I get setup again and run a couple baits
and within 10 minutes the ray gets hammered on the 12/0 but the fish just
had a big appetite. Hoping for a grander, it got picked off by another medium
sized Sandbar.
I get another bait or two back out at dark and call it a day with the yak.
I am able to take a long exposure pic of our camp.
During the night we get a few baits blasted by small sharks. It remains quiet
the rest of the night. The next morning it is calm and we move camp again
driving up the beach looking for better water. We knew the South winds were
going to kick up so we had to act quick. By noon I have 4 baits back out
and Kip is just south of me.
I have two Stingray baits that get smashed several times over but eventually
get hooked up... and then the other rod goes off. I quickly get the 4'10"
in and after a couple more minutes have a 6' also on the beach. The first
Blacktips of the season. At this time another rod is going off but I leave
it to get some measurements and a pic then the release.
I lose the 3rd of the Blacktips and all lines are in. I am once again stuck
in a bait predicament and have virtually nothing left. The wind is now out
of the south 15-20 and getting stronger. The current is now hellacious and
very difficult to yak. I put a bait rod out and wait. As I look down the
beach I see Kip nailing a fish with a hookset on the top of his truck. I
run down to help out.
It is a solid fish and using its body weight along with the current to work
Kip. After a decent fight Kip finally gets the shark in the wade gut. What
we were hoping to be an early season Bull ends up being a massive Blacktip.
A quick photo and the fat female is released.
Kip is wiped out and with the current and wind being a disaster to yak in
we call it a day. The drive off the beach is to be long and slow and much
weed washed up in places.
Overall it was another fun mid-week trip and wished we would have stayed
for another day or two. With the temps warming quickly, springtime is here.
Depending on the strength and output of this approaching coldfront, it looks
like the Sandbars will move out until November and we are already getting
invaded by Blacktips ready to pup. While being fortunate and landing 19 Sandbar
Sharks in less than 1-1/2 years, I am tired of Sandbars and ready for the
big Bulls to move in the coming months.
This shall be an interesting spring and the weed will be here, but if you
can tolerate it, so will the fish.
- See ya on the next great adventure.
Til next time... see ya on the sand.
- Rockstars Out!
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