| PINS/Mansfield Surf and Kayaking Report
Padre Island National Seashore,
TX
August 6th-8th, 2004
Report by Oz |
A trip for which we had planned on for a while got very
interesting.. and for one of us included a moment of a lifetime. Dwade 'Frenzy'
and I headed down the beach and met up with Trevor 'Repofish' and Kip. Later
in the weekend Skipjack and others would join in. Our original game plan
was to head out at daybreak in the kayaks in search of King and Spanish Mackerel.
Photo Courtesy Yakmon -
Teem-Deek
Thanks to Repofish, he was able to reserve some bait so we could
get an early start. Conditions were beautiful at the Mansfield Jetties with
a slight chop and light breeze. Frenzy, Kip, Repo, and I head out in
search of Kings. Despite the massive amount of bait and nice conditions,
the tides were minimal and killing the bite. With several huge Spanish, we
were wondering if the King feeding would turn on at all. We witnessed a couple
gentlemen in a boat hook a shark and get dragged around while fishing for
Redfish. Frenzy was able to hook into a nice Kingfish and land it from the
yak.
After only bagging one King in the morning, we decided to take
a journey to the offshore buoy marker out of Mansfield. I cannot give an
accurate estimation but would say it is atleast a mile offshore. We trolled
and chunked lures around it only for Repo to hook into a Spanish that later
spit the hook. We rested for a few min then begun the fun voyage back trolling
along the way.
We head in for a bit of rest and grab a bite to eat. By now it was
approximately 400 degrees F outside and were wondering if the wind would
ever pick up. It eventually did and we head back out to try our luck again
for the Kings. We still couldn't hook up and would be greeted with
some massive Spanish. Frenzy and I go back in to rest again and Kip
decides to duke it out by himself. About an hour or two later during the
mid-day, somewhere when the temp reached 450 degrees F, we see Kip practically
hydroplaning back to the surf. We figure he is just hungry and wants to join
us for lunch. With the most unique look on his face, he coast in.. yelling
"I JUST GOT INTO A FIGHT WITH A BIG TIGER". Frenzy and I look at each
other.. wondering if the heat finally got to him. Then Kip reaches behind
him with 2 hands and whips out the head section of one of the largest Kings
I have seen.
(For size reference, the dorsal fin (far right) is physically located
at the middle of the body on mackerel)
Soon as Kip whipped out the remains of the fish.. it was clear
he did not lose his marbles. As I can't quote him exactly, the story basically
goes like this. Kip was out drifting fairly close to the rocks and
unexpectedly the bait gets nailed by a torpedo of a fish. He fights it for
close to 20 minutes getting it close to the boat then taking off repeatedly.
He finally gets it calm enough to where it only energizes back up taking
another run. This would be the final run before chaos reigned on the surface.
A red pool of blood, dorsal fin, and vivid stripes are what is seen where
the bait made its last run in front of the kayak. With the massive King (and
quite possibly a fish that would place high in the S.T.A.R. Tournament) in
the mouth of a Tiger Shark estimated 10'+ in length, Kip hangs on taking
a ride hoping the shark would spit the fish before he would be forced to
cut the line. The Tiger finally took the last bite slicing the King close
to halfway down its body. The expression on Kips face as he came ashore was
priceless. He was extremely excited to know he witnessed what a very limited
of us have ever seen.
Kip gains his composure and rest for a bit. Now we are all psyched
(or maybe raging lunatics) and decide to head back out.. knowing the King
bite might turn on again. Sure enough we get out and after several minutes
Kip does it again and hooks up on a King. While quite a bit smaller than
the previous fish, he finally lands his first (whole) King Mackerel from
the kayak.
Yakmon, Skipjack, Mr Champ, M. Shindle, Jeff , Todd, and Henry
would finally show up to join in the fun. We would finish off that day with
just 3 Kings but would eventually go on and join in a feeding frenzy in an
undisclosed location where we harvest many nice size Mangrove Snapper and
released over a dozen Snook, and a couple small Rat Reds and Trout. Frenzy,
Skipjack, and '26 Beers Later' were able to land their first Snooks
ever. The Ladyfish would soon invade the area destroying ANY bait in
instant contact with the water. The day was capped off by an incredible buffet
of seafood including fresh fried King 'desired meat balled out or fillets'.
Amazing day despite the slow King action.
The next day the gang of us venture out in the kayaks to the calmest
surf of the year. Flat as flat can be with no wind.. and quite hot.
Perhaps it was a day of observing interesting event. We would
all be out in the kayak and witness giant Eagle and Cownose rays leaping
into the air. In addition to this atleast a couple large sharks would go
airborne around us. I landed a Spanish that was later measured at 29"..
the largest Spanish I have hooked and landed. With the Shark activity
I throw the Spanish in the hatch and grab a shark bait. I drifted the
bait down below only to have it get nailed and tow the yak and myself around
for a couple mins before spitting the hook. The bite marks on the bait confirmed
the shark. Sometime during the morning Todd lands a nice King off the
kayak.
Shindle and everyone started hooking up on Spanish and would
later take over the Kingfish bite for the morning. We duked it out all morning
in search of more Kings but would only land mega Spanish Mackerel.. not that
anyone complained. Upon us returning back to shore, we are welcomed
to a shrimp/crab boil and once again Repofish and Kip come through with one
of the best tasting beach meals I have ever enjoyed. Thanks guys! The fuel
was consumed and in the late afternoon we headed back to the open water once
again in search of the less present Kings. I finally get hooked up on one
and land my first King of the trip.
Kip and Repofish along with Yakmon would leave and in the late
afternoon the remaining bunch of us in addition to Kyle decided to shark
fish off the jetties overnight. After a long haul and preparation, we get
baits out at dusk. I run a 'Rockstar' bait out on a 12/0 and gets cut instantly.
I decided that I did not need to get frustrated so I headed down myself to
journey to the 'Snook Station'. I was able to gather some live bait
in pursue of my Snook of the trip. After landing a couple nice Mangrove Snapper,
I finally get my Snook. The nice 'Fat Snook' hit a small live Whiting and
was released as with all the Snook caught.
I get done with the Mangrove Snapper harvest and head back to
the jetties where encounter Kyle walking back. Apparently he was cutoff on
his mega-bait as well. As I get to the end of the jetties I see the
guys on a double hookup with sharks. Frenzy fights his for a while but eventually
hits and wraps around some structure. After numerous various attempts to
'MacGyver' the situation, the fish was getting close to spooling the reel
where it was necessary to lock down the spool and something had to give.
On the other end Mr. Champ is battling a shark on his 555 that he gets
up to the surface. Somewhere between 6-7', Champ battles the monster for
what seemed like an eternity times 10. The fight would end with the shark
winning this battle. A couple more runs throughout the night and Frenzy hooks
up and releases a very nice bull Redfish.
In the morning we would pack up getting an early start off the
beach. We passed the Gollas in their pursuit of Trout and Reds and then later
Nickaway trying out his Fly-rod. Overall this was an interesting trip and
everyone has a story to take home, but perhaps none bigger than Kips mega
shark encounter. Congrats to Kip on experiencing it and getting out
alive. And congrats to Skipjack who is about to get married.. sorry
bud but there goes your fishing! Nice seeing everyone and will post
more pics later in the new
EC Forums.
Good fun!
-Oz
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