| I rocked down the beach 5am Monday morning. The front had
just came through and was still blowing with a chill in the air. The radio
station had once again reported 33 degrees up in town, and 31 in Victoria??
Regardless the beach was Cold. The sun broke the horizon and began to warm
up.
The original plan was to rock down and I was hoping it would
be calm enough to yak some morning baits out while waiting for Sessions to
meet up later in the morning. I get down to the high banks and water was
breaking pretty good on the bars and the water was still dirty. I drive down
south a few more miles and decide to wait for Chris there. I get out and
roam around taking in the beautiful morning. I stumble across an ancient
Mexican artifact.
After exploring I soon decided to just crash out for a couple hours.
Chris makes it down and wakes me up and we roll south a bit. Water is still
dirty but is calming and clearing the further south we go. We collect firewood
and roll down to a good hole with good looking water.
We unload the truck and immediately begin fishing for bait and food.
We nail some Reds and I get a Pompano that we will call exhibit 'A'. This
Pomp had survived a near fatal attack by a predator as you can well see.
We spend the rest of the afternoon rigging up big baits and
at sunset we deploy via the zodiac. Our smallest bait, the Pompano from exhibit
'A', immediately gets nailed but no hook up. I bring it in and rig it back
up. Come nightfall we have some killer baits out and Chris makes his world
famous fajitas.
After dinner we cast out a couple long rods hoping for a Red or two.
After a while my rod goes off and work in feisty Blacktip.
Chris would soon answer back with a nice Bull Red.
About an hour later Chris lands himself a Blacktip on a casted bait as well.
Around 4am I get a run and ends up being a hefty Red on another casted bait.
We would go through the night without taking a hit on the big baits.
The Pomp from exhibit 'A' gets nailed once again leaving virtually nothing.
We sleep in and later in the morning bring all the baits in. Chris
has to work and is ready to pack it up while I decide to move back up the
beach aways. Just as we load the zodiac up Scott rocks down and takes advantage
of the beautiful conditions. We all rock back up the beach and Chris agrees
to hang out and fish with us for a few more hours.
We find a good deep place and put out small baits and begin nailing
multitudes of Pompano and Chris and I get a double hookup with Reds.
Chris sticks around and decides to pack it up for good and right as
he is about to take off we get a triple hookup on shark baits. After a few
minutes, we have 2 Blacktips and a Bull on the beach and after a couple quick
pics are ready for release.
Chris ends up taking off and Scott and I are left to battle our way
through the night. Just after dark one of my rods goes off and I get in a
fat Blacktip.
I run that bait back out around 9pm. Baits are all out and it is an
absolutely beautiful night with thousands of stars to gaze upon.
I soon get it picked up but by something small and sluggish. My theories
are realized and it is a large Bull Red that hit a shark bait.
I once again run that bait back out with a grander Pomp. I takes 8...
yes 8 runs through the night before the fish strip it clean.
The morning comes and big baits haven't seem to move.
After bringing them in, a half of Jack of Scotts had been picked up
and destroyed. A similar instance happened to one of my Jacks.
Instead of packing it up, the conditions are so incredible for this
time of year we decide to stay a while.
Scott immediately brings in a Bull Shark.
We continue the Pomp slaughter in between sharks... nailing nice specimens
up to 22" fairly consistently.
I soon answer with another Blacktip.
After running that bait out I get it back out and am immediately hooked
up once again landing a Bull this time.
At the same time Scott is hooked up with a large Finetooth Shark.
Scott is ready to pack it up and I decide to stay for a couple more
hours. As he is about to head off the beach I get another run and get in
another Bull.
Scott finally takes off and I am left to the madness myself. As he
is driving off my Pompano rod goes off... at that same time a Shark rod goes
off... and a couple minutes later another shark rod goes off... 3 rods hooked
up.
This shark seems solid but is brought in only to find it is hooked in the
pectoral fin.
A quick photo and she is released.
After the release I run over, get the Pomp in, then run over to the
other shark rod to get in another Bull. A quick pic and she is also release.
I stuck around for about 20 more min before heading off myself. Overall
it was an incredible December trip with LOTS of fish. I am sure I am missing
a lot in the report but if I think of some stuff I edit it. Thanks to Chris
for the fine hospitality and great food and thanks to Scott for always being
a great fishing buddy.
The beach was on fire!! Til the next great fishing window...
- Oz
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