| PINS End of Summer Tiger Report
Padre Island National Seashore, TX
September 13th-14th, 2009
Report by 'Oz' |
With the endless rains finally letting up, Scott and I decided to
plan a last minute trip down the beach, for we knew the activity would finally
turn back on. We kept debating when to leave... Saturday or Sunday. With
a bit of rain lingering around Friday evening and Saturday morning, we decided
to wait an extra day. Plan was to leave around noon on Sunday for low tide.
I woke up around 9am, with the truck packed already with big baits, and saw
the calm conditions, slightly lower temps, and full out sunshine. It is going
to be on!!!! I call Scott and tell him to hurry up so we can leave early. I
run to the store and grab another 100lbs of ice and pack the rest of the
truck. Scott meets me at the house and we hit the beach around 11am. NW wind
has blown the surf flat (not like it hasn't been flat the past couple of
weeks).
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Going down the driving isn't too bad... a little slow and bumpy but
2WD. Looking into the water we see Tarpon covering the first 10 miles. They
are blasting bait on the surface. Too far to cast and was more anxious at
what we would find down south. Make it past the high banks and we come across
Nickaway and Ralphwade tearing up the Redfish. At 80+yrs Ralph is still kicking
ass on the beach!
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Scott stayed behind for an hour or two and slayed some Reds
with the guys. I continued on and wanted to hit the jetties to see what it
looked like. If it were clear enough I would probably spear some dinner.
I get down the beach and for some reason decided to stop and inspect the
Nic. from the yak. Water was green but the N winds were blowing pretty good.
There was some fish but not enough activity to make me want to fish it. I
hopped back in the truck and continued south. The water was very clear, about
as clear as it gets along our coast.
As I was driving I something catches my eye in the 1st gut. It was
a school of slot Reds moving north.. maybe 100 strong. I get out and cast
real quick but no dice. I do a U turn in the truck and go back a couple hundred
yards ahead of them. I get out and grab the video camera hoping to get underwater
video as they cruise by. I get out on the first bar and inch my way into the
gut. Here they come! They come hauling through pretty quick. As they pass
I look again to see 3 Bullsharks following right behind. I high-tail it back
to the 1st bar. I notice a couple Blacktips behind the Bulls and behind them
either 2 Ling or couple more Blacktips. Pretty cool.
I Get into the truck and continue to the jetties. Finally get
there after slow driving. The water was pretty clear but due to the tide
rushing out it dirtied up the water in the channel just enough to where you
couldn't see. I see more schools of Reds along the rocks fixing to head up
the beach. I look around for a while, throw some lures... and decide screw
it, going to drive back up the beach and setup camp so I can get baits out
for night. 3 Hours later I am setup and have a few baits rigged up.
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Scott shows up as well and rigs up some big baits. He sets up camp
a couple hundred yards down and we dig out the 2-way radios. Another hour
or so pass and we begin to run the baits out. I have 4 large baits, Scott
with another 3 up the beach. It will be interesting to see what happens.
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While roaming around, Scott finds an interesting crab.. don't know
the species but seen them before somewhere.
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Anyhow, as nite falls and things begin to get quiet. I see Scott up
the beach fighting a fish. I get over there and help him land a pesky Blacktip
that picked up one of his big baits. Unfortunate waste of a big bait but
what are you going to do. We release the fish and about an hour later another
of his big baits gets cut off this time. Bummer. That's beach fishing for
you. Anyway, the wind begins to die and the flying pest come out. It is clear
dark skies and I decide to take some long-exposure pics on the beach. Here
is one of Scott's camp up the beach... notice the Big Dipper about to scoop
up his truck!
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Night picture of the dunes...
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Around 3:30 am the Moon starts to rise. I am awakened by the Avet
50W roaring for a few seconds. Fish drops the bait. We'll I'm up again, i'll
take some more pics. Here is a long exposure of the moon coming up over the
calm seas.
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About a half hour later the 12/0 gets rocked, but no hook up. Hmmm.
At least there is something around scoping out the baits. I manage to go
back to sleep for a bit. Come sunrise there are Pelicans and birds everywhere
dive bombing anchovies. A little bit later the Avet gets picked up again...
runs... then drops. About 5 minutes later it gets picked up once again and
I feed it to him and then set the hook. I get strapped in. Fish-Finally-On!
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Scott rocks on over wondering what the chaos is about. I have my baits
other than the 12/0 in and begin to work the fish to the beach. I knew it
was a decent fish but was curious to as what it was. I had thoughts and
suspicions and knew it was one of two fish.
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After about 10 minutes the shark manages to get wrapped up with my
12/0 leader. It was a stale mate so I hop in the kayak and go out to free
up the mess. I pull up the first leader, which was the 12/0's, and remove
the weight. I grab the other leader and pull up the fish. I was curious and
just had to know for sure. I start pulling up and see the shadow levitate
on up. Hmmmm... good size.. dark. Then I finally see what it is. Hell Yes.
I remove the weight, free the other line, and get back to shore. Scott is
up on the platform helping me out. I get up there and he asked "did you see
it??". I just looked at him am smiled. Told him to get the tail rope. He
asked.. "What is it? What is it???". Smiled back, and told him... Tiger!
Scott hops down, probably still not believing me but knew it was a
good fish anyway. A few minutes later we get the fish on the first bar. Water
was crystal clear and you could see everything. Scott finally see's the fish
and starts smiling himself. I get down and help him leader the fish and we
get her to the beach. Another Texas Tiger! This is the first Tiger on the
old custom Ozinator Breakaway rod built by Kcon a few years ago... the mojo
must be with the Avet 50W I threw on there, which you can also pick up at
Roy's Bait and Tackle for your Sharkathon adventure :)
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A beautiful Monday-morning fish.
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The Shark was a toad with a skinny tail. She was the size where she was just
starting to fill out.
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We get a quick measurement. Tried a couple times and could only stretch
her out to 9' 11". That's ok, don't need to waste the sharkathon mojo just
yet. We grab a couple more pics...
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Smile for the camera darling
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One last photo before the release.
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Scott switches cameras and gets the video camera for the release.
Here are a couple screen shots from the video...
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Here she is, on her way... returning to sea as the apex predator she will resume to
be.
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Bad-ass... another successful Tiger release. Looking back on things,
I am almost certain this was the same shark that picked up the two Jack baits
just a few hours before.
The trip (and past few) were finally worth it. Scott and I decide
that since it is still early to pack up and head down to the jetties to
snorkel/spearfish/kayakfish etc. As we finally get down there we see Jacks
blowing the hell out of the anchovies just off the jetties. I'll put the
spearfishing on hold and hit the kayak instead. I get out and start chasing
the birds. I end up landing one Jack after several minutes. After a while
a small tern gets wrapped up in my line. I get him in the kayak and make
sure he is ok. I'm not sure if he knows exactly what the heck is going on so
I let him chill in the kayak... and name him lucky.
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Lucky poses for a pic and decides to fish with me for a couple hours.
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I continue to throw Spoon'rs trying to get Jacks. I then hook into
a King. Oh well. Boat the fish after a few minutes on light tackle. I was
using the Ultima Hard-Core Mono (60-80lb) for leader material. It is by far the hardest,
most abrasive resistant hard mono on the planet, and is excellent for leader
material for Skipjack, Tarpon, Spanish, Jacks, and I have landed several
Kings such as this no problem with very little affect to the mono. Interested
in this new product that is making its US debut very soon, you can contact
Nick at Breakaway for more info.
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I duke it out at the jetties for a while but things slowed down. I
hop in the water and look around while Scott is hammering the Trout, Redfish,
and Mangroves. Scott gets his fill and takes off to head on home. I decide
to stay another night and run baits once again. I pack up at the jetties
and travel aways back up the beach. Within a mile of where we were the previous
night, I come across a Blacktip that was washed up. It had been clearly hit
by a large shark. Was this Scott's Blacktip he released the night before???
And could it have been the Tiger from the morning that hit this fish? We'll
never know, but interesting nonetheless.
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I get to where I want to be and get the remainder of my big baits
rigged, including a 3/4 Jack that I caught from the yak earlier.
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Come sundown, I have 4 big baits out once again.
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Things were quiet this night. The weed started rolling in from the
constant North winds. It was there, but due to minimal wind and current it
was fishable. Baits sat all night... very quiet. Late in the night the fresh
Jack gets a short run by a mystery fish. Come sunrise I pick up the baits
and head all the way back down to the jetties once again to take advantage
of the clear water. I snorkeled a bit and saw Reds, Trout, Snook, and many
other fish. I begin to fish and start to hammer the Trout. After a while
I get a 24" snake to the yak.
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Fished for a bit more as I waited for the tide to roll out. I started
getting into the Mangrove snapper and played with them for a while before
finally packing it up.
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Mid-afternoon, I load the truck up and prepare for the long haul off
the beach. It had been an incredible trip and shows that just one shark can
make the trip. It was very cool to me for the Tiger is my obsession. It is
the reason I run big bait after big bait after big bait down the beach. They
are undoubtedly one of the coolest sharks we have and one of the most productive
predators on the planet. For me, landing and releasing 3 Texas Tigers from
the surf in just over a year is incredible. Thanks to Scott for helping out
with the fish, and being there to see it. I always look forward to next great
battle on the sea, kayak, or from the platform.
See you guys at Sharkathon!...
-Oz
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