After loading and packing the truck up we headed to our first destination. Troy, the bait catching machine gigs two rays right off the bat!
One of them is still partially alive and I kayak it out. I get back on the beach and as I am drying off, my rod takes a nice screaming run! I am thinking "No way!" I get strapped in and the fight is on!
I see a tall dorsal fin
Their was a lot of line taking and a lot of charging the beach. We pretty much knew right off the bat what it was.
After a fairly short fight I land my first Greater Hammerhead.
7ft 8in.
Not a giant but a great fighter!
I dehook, measure, take a few pictures, and off he goes.
Troy and I high five and are ecstatic that our trip is off to such a great start
The rest of the night was quiet
The next morning I catch a Blacktip
All is quiet till night time. My rod is set off by a slow steady roll. Troy and I look at each other and just smile, again. I was having a great fight with this one. It would take drag, I am having to sit in my harness, and then reel as fast as my arm will go. My heart is pounding with excitement.
Troy grabs the leader and yells, " Tiger!" I put the rod back down and go to help Troy. We were fortunate to meet a fishing couple, Billy Ray and Mason Ray who were their to help in every way they could. There was also a huge family that were just out strolling the beach for crabs and got to witness a Tiger being caught.
8ft 3in Tiger
The next day we had seaweed roll in. Frustrated and aggravated we had to move! We decided to head to where we would be meeting up with the family in a couple of days. There were too many people on the beach during the day so we just did some bait fishing and hooked in to some Jacks! Lots of fun! We later left to grab an ice cream and visit one of the local shops. While we were stopped we met a couple of guys who were just in awe with the size of our reels. After talking with them a few minutes they just so happen to be shark fishing and had rented a house on the beach. They offered us a place to fish for the next two nights. We gladly took them up on their offer! We go set up and rods out. A little later that night Brian hooks up to a Blacktip on his 6/0.
He was thrilled to death and we were happy for him.
Troy and I did not catch anything that evening. Unfortunately we got a full nights rest! The next morning we loaded up again and got off the beach for the day. Off we go to bait fish again. Of course we decided to chase the Jacks again. Troy catches a couple and I decided to get in the kayak and try and catch some Flounder or Jacks. No Flounder for me but I caught several Jacks from the kayak. That was lots of fun!
We return to the family's rented house that evening and we get set up again. They all come out to visit for a little bit and then off to sleep we go. We wake up to Troy's reel making a steady roll early early in the morning. Unfortunately, it drops the bait! Frustrated Troy takes his harness off and is upset! I said, "It will be back baby, don't worry." We lay back down and I dose off for a few minutes and wake up to Troy's reel taking off again. It did not drop the bait THIS time! Both of us elated, Troy is hooked up to a GOOD FISH!
He is thinking it is a big Bull, and I am thinking a Tiger! Troy knows immediately he is hooked in to a big shark, so we call the guys that were asleep in the house to come down and help us. At this point the sun is starting to come up and we can see some tail splashes on the water! IT'S A HUGE TIGER! This one bigger than his 10 footer, Troy is doing IT AGAIN!!! WHOO HOO!
I can hardly believe what I am seeing! I am on the leader and astonished at the sight of this beautiful fish! Troy is able to put his rod down and come help me. I tail rope the shark and it is officially caught!
It taped out 11ft!
After measurements and lots of pictures, we let her go!
A huge high five all the way around! I was so grateful to be apart of yet another P.B. of my dear husband!
Congratulations on such a magnificent catch! She was truly a beautiful shark!
After the adrenaline wore off, we started to pack it in again. My dad and sister were to be in later that evening so we off to rest a little in the shade and off course do some more bait fishing. We were LOW on bait, and working our tail ends off trying to get it.
We get set up get our rods in the water and wait for my sister and dad to get there. They finally arrive close to 8 P.M. They get their rods in the water as well. We visit catch up and head off to sleep.
About 6 hours after my dad and sister arrive, my sister's rod takes a slow steady roll. She gets strapped in, sets the hook and the fight is on.
After about 30 min. she lands this beauty!
A 9ft 1 in. Tiger!
Way to go sister!!!!! I am so glad you love sharking as much as I do now!
All is quiet for awhile! Too long, my harness is collecting sand from the sand storm lol
Troy is sitting in the sand pouting (lol) about a small run he just got and it dropped it!
We are all getting frustrated at this point and wondering why we are not catching anything. All of the sudden my sister's rod starts screaming at her. She gets strapped in and hooked up to a solid fish!
Shortly after she lands her first Lemon Shark.
It taped out at 8ft 6in!
Infamous move of a Lemon
We were having a great time just visiting and having some good quality family time together.
My Uncle Tom shows up a day early and we are instantly entertained by his company!:) We had not seen him in a year since our last family trip. It was so wonderful to see him again! It was an uneventful evening as far as the shark fishing was concerned. The next day we were going to work hard and heavy on getting bait. Troy, my sister, and my Uncle Tom went to the bridge to try and catch some bait, while my dad and I stayed behind and were going to try and do the same.
While on the bridge, my sister and Troy land this HUGE Redfish but on my uncle's rod!
Meanwhile, back on the beach. My dad kicks back for a nap and my 14/0 starts taking some line and I get hooked up to a small shark. I was just going to let my dad rest while I reeled it in, but all of the sudden my dad's St. Croix rod takes a bend and a screaming run. He wakes up and the fun fight is on for him. I am still reeling mine in and he is cranking his on in. I get mine on the sand and then he gets his. Good times, two at once lol.
The next morning around 10 A.M. Troy is taking a rod out and I am looking at my dad's rod. The tip starts bouncing. I said, "Dad, your reel is fixing to take off." Sure enough it takes off with a LOUD, SLOW, STEADY ROLL. He gets strapped in and not even a minute later we see a HUGE Tiger on top of the water, from head to tail. All of us were pretty much speechless at the size of the fish we were seeing. My dad is planning out in his head how to fight this fish, knowing he was going to have a long battle ahead of him. He got about 10 min. into the fight and the Tiger comes off. I think we all wanted to shed a tear or two on the lost fish. He reels it all the way in and the whole bait comes back whole with the trace all chewed up. It obviously had the whole entire thing in it's stomach. I am so sorry dad but it is still out there and the Tiger is waiting for your return, which will be soon!
Unfortunately, we caught no more sharks on that trip. It was our last night together so we took some family pictures.
The next morning we packed it all in and Troy, my sister and I all headed home, and my dad headed to my uncle's house for a few days.
9 nights 8 days, but we were still going strong and we were ready to keep fishing, lol but we decided to head home for a 2 nights and 1 day of rest before we headed back out.
We got rested up, laundry done and we headed back out again. This time Greg was going to meet up with us. This was going to be a 4 night trip. We arrived at the beach and got set up in the rain, ( not off to a good start.)
No rays in the surf and no bait in the water. We used what we had left over from our last trip and got no runs on our first evening. The next morning Greg showed up and made a friend on the beach first thing.
We worked on getting bait, and I walked what seemed like forever looking for rays. On my way and almost back to our camp I see a ray. I gig it and it is a Butterfly ray. While it is still alive I take it out on my rod. Hoping it would get hit soon, it didn't get anything until it slacked up around 1 A.M. Then it took off, I get strapped in and fish on!
I land another Hammer!
7ft 1in.
We had no more sharks until the last night of the trip. Our good friends Regina and Robert come out to the beach and visit with us. We share fish stories and pictures and have a great time seeing each other again. While on the beach Greg is doing all the cooking and feeds us well! Thank you Greg, the peanut butter and jelly was getting old!
During the morning Greg was by the water and he sees about a 15pd Stingray, so I grab the gig and I get it. Greg helps me get it on the beach.
Later that day I was fishing with some live small Whiting and I caught another Stingray.
With it being our last night we were happy to have the fresh bait!
Greg's reel takes off around 3:15 in the morning. Thank goodness!!!! After a decent fight he lands a nice Bull that we were so grateful to see.
6ft 7in Bull.
Congrats Greg! It was great seeing you again and thank you for everything!
The next morning we loaded up and made the haul off the beach. It was time to go home for a few days, hahaha.
We have had some amazing awesome times since Troy has been home. It has been a blast making up for lost time, and he is putting some sharks on the sand to prove it!
Congratulations to all of you and I am so grateful for the time on the sand I had the opportunity to spend with each of you.
So yeah...we kinda saved a turtle, at least it wasn't not this Tiger's meal.
