| PINS Survivor Man Report
Padre Island National Seashore, TX
August 24th-25th, 2009
Report by 'Oz' |
I rocked down the beach Sunday night. Plan was for Repo to meet up
either Sun night or Monday noonish. I was planning on a kayak trip but brought
the shark rods as usual.
I woke up around sunrise but due to getting rigged up all night and
everything prepped, I slept in. I woke up... saw there were tons of birds
in close. Ate breakfast and headed out in the yak. Just past the 3rd bar
I saw the true definition of the chaos. Anchovies were everywhere.. bait
balls everywhere... SHARKS EVERYWHERE! Tons of Sharks... more sharks than
I had seen in any other outing in the kayak. This time, the majority of the
sharks were Bull Sharks. Big, Fat, Bull Sharks. Sessions has always told
me about the legends of the big Bulls under the zodiac during the fall. It
took me MANY, MANY trips over the past several years and I finally saw it.
There were 6' Bull Sharks, 7' Bull Sharks, 8' Bull Sharks, and i'd be willing
to bet 2 or 3 that came up the yak were close to 9'. They were devouring
the anchovies. Then again, if I hooked a Spanish or Skipjack, it would not
make it to the yak. Within the first 30 min, I probably saw over 100 different
sharks. Bulls, Blacktips, and some large Spinners. There were also several
grander Tarpon that swam up to the yak, and probably close to 100 Cobia.
I was taking some HD Video for a while then decided to fish again.
Small fish didn't stand a chance and i'd get cut off or left with the head.
Now keep in mind I was by myself so I had no intention to shark fish from
the yak. While throwing spoonr's, I landed two Ling fairly quick.
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Hi-Res Photo
After the two Ling, I cast but finally get some Skipjack to the yak.
I save a couple to run out. I continue to take some video. Here are a few
stills from the brief video I was able to capture. Now what you don't see
in these photos is the shear amount of sharks around during each of these
photos. If you were in a helicopter you probably could have got some amazing
photos.
Large Bull and another Shark (barely can be seen) on the surface...
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Hi-Res Photo
Spinner over 7', along with two other large Sharks...
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Hi-Res Photo
Large Bull on surface...
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Hi-Res Photo
Really large Bull on surface...
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Hi-Res Photo
Another 8'+ Bull on the surface
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I stick around for a little bit but head back to the truck 1/4 mile
back up the beach. I really wanted to catch one of these monster Bulls. I
get back, rig up four baits... 2 sexy fresh big baits, and a couple of Skipjack.
Takes me about an hour to rig up and run everything. After 30 min the scene
was something like this...
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Hi-Res Photo
I figured I'd walk out onto the first shallow bar and cast and knock
out a few more skipjack. No sooner than me getting out there on the bar where
the white was is rolling over in about 1' of water I feel something... A
sharp pain in my foot... felt like a big blue crab pinching the hell out
of my foot. Waited a sec hoping it would let go and it never did. I lift
up my foot and take a look and blood is FLYING out of my ankle. $%!# Right
then I knew exactly what happened. The barb had to have gone pretty deep
for the blood that was gushing out. It hit straight in the side of the foot,
right below the ankle. From the moment I get to the truck and for the next
30 min was some of the most excruciating pain I've endured. Immediately when
I get back to the truck, I figure.. "Repo will be here any minute". Then
I thought about it and figured I should just take care of the best I can
immediately. I got the burner out and boiled up some fresh water. Didn't
take long to get the bleeding to stop, but when it did bleed, it wasn't pretty.
Anyway, I would let the water cool just enough to where it was barely bearable
and pour it over the wound. It seemed to help the pain, but I really needed
to soak it. After about 30 min of pouring the hot water on the wound I decided
to boil more and put it in the bait bucket. Let it cool just a hair and then
I soaked my foot in it. Ahhhhh much better. Pain going away.
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Around this time I am sitting on the back of the truck with my foot
in the bucket. Then all of a sudden the 12/0 goes off. Great. Decision time...
fish or foot. I get up on top of the rack quickly and decided... uhhh foot.
Get back down and soak the foot while I let the fish swim around for about
an hour. After an hour more the pain went to virtually nothing. The bleeding
had been stopped for a while, and there was no real swelling. I throw the
bucket on top of the truck and soak it while reeling in the 12/0.
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It was a big bait, big weight, but afraid a small shark. Sure enough,
it was a Blacktip.. close to 6'. I get her in quick, give her the hook and
walk her back out (but not too far for obvious reasons).
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Hi-Res Photo
I get the bait back out and let it sit. Then chaos in front of the
camp again, but I sit back and soak the foot off and on. Meanwhile the big
bait on the Avet gets smoked.. but dropped. Twice.
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Hi-Res Photo
There were a few more runs but no hook ups. After a while I rig up
some more big baits to put out for night. Around this time Sir Repofish finally
shows up. Good thing I wasn't dying or anything :wstl LOL
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I get baits out and feel better and optimistic.
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Repo sets up shop
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for Hi-Res Photo
Left baits out overnight.. had a run on a short bait. During the night
one after one I would get cut off. Come morning I went to retrieve the baits...
all big baits untouched. Interesting. I'd be willing to be if I ran out fresh
rather than frozen in this case, the results would have been different.
Anyway, birds are not quite going off like they did the day before.
We wait it out for a while to see what happens. Keeping a keen eye on the
condition of my foot. There is some swelling now, slightly more than the
previous night.
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Hi-Res Photo
We catch Skipjack like it was going out of style, but couldn't get
anything else. I had big plans to run a really big bait out, along with a
couple more Jacks... however after debating and analyzing the situation I
decided I should get off the beach. While I feel confident my foot will be
ok, I did not want to be down the beach to risk infection... or if it was
getting infected, didn't want to be down and have to make a long trip off.
Sure enough as we were packing up, the birds started working like crazy.
Overall.. lesson learned. You never know how shallow those lil bastards
will be hanging out and don't let some majestic chaos distract you from your
obvious safety. As of typing this report, my foot is doing well and swelling
has gone down next to nothing. I have not had any pain since the first 3
or so hours of the sticking. Best suggestion I can possibly offer after getting
stuck by a ray (this was my 3rd time by the way) is to boil up some water
and soak your foot in the hottest water you can tolerate. While you will
probably need to go to the hospital, I assure you it will reduce your pain
significantly, but regardless you will endure great pain from the time it
happens until after you start soaking it for a while.
Anyway... Think I will skip the Nyati trip this weekend but if I feel
comfortable, I may head back in the yak. Not sure yet... but i'm sure some
fish will die somewhere!!
- Oz
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