2012 BHC-The EPIC 17 TIGER SHARK NIGHT

WILLIAM AND ALL THE SFSC GUYS ----YA'LL ARE MAKING HISTORY--LET IT SOAK IN AND APPRECIATE WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED

WILLIAM --YOU LOOK SKINNY

WILLIAM AND ALL THE SFSC GUYS ----YA'LL ARE MAKING HISTORY--LET IT SOAK IN AND APPRECIATE WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED

WILLIAM --YOU LOOK SKINNY

I think its the strict diet of SAND AWESOME JOB GUYS!

That pic of you hooked up with a tiger on the sand already is incredible. You guys really got em'.

Make that 18 Tiger Sharks !!

http://sharksonthesand.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2477
Tigers prowling NC beaches in early May.
by StanPearce on May 6th, 2012, 8:04 pm

This trip started on a whim midweek with me texting Dustin (scout04) about possibly sharking this weekend. (May 4th&5th) The MSW surf report looked real promising for Friday and most of Saturday. We both decided it looked promising and to check in on Thursday to firm up intentions.

Dustin consults his magical bag of tricks and tells me that with the big moon, low tide, the bite will be on about 1:00am to 3:00 early Saturday morning. Turns out, he was off by a whopping 2 hours and ten minutes. Full moon curse, be gone forever!

Friday begins way too early for both of us. I busy myself loading the Mystery Machine van, and hit my bait freezer, and grab a couple large tuna heads, 2 nice Bonita, a bunch of trigger/snapper heads and my last ray. We both begin a 4 hour drive south by southeast around 2 pm Friday, and we join up at the beach access point around 6pm.

The weather was a bit off, Magic Seaweed was letting us down this day. Instead of calm winds and knee surf, we had fair conditions at best, a fair 12-15mph onshore wind to plow against and waves, while only 3-4 footers breaking in close, they had a brutal 2-3 second interval, so it was a continuous wash tub out there. We discuss the conditions, I mention the fair amount of sea grass and that the outgoing tide from the super moon is sure to wash a lot of it out of the nearby inlet, and it is decided we are a go with fair conditions. We discuss the pros and cons of having two kayaks ready, and decide that the minor chance of the second kayak being able to help a distressed kayaker without creating a double emergency are slim, so we leave my Scrambler on the roof and load up Dustin's Tribe.

By 7 pm, shark camp is set up, the rods are spiked, and we are ready to run baits.

Dustin is first off to test the waters in the tribe. He loads up his Avet 80 wide with a 15 pound chunk of butterfly wing, I watch as he is getting pounded by the headwinds and the short interval. He is paddling like a mad man and moving left down the beach. I look away for a second, and I think I see his paddle wave...Did he drop the bait?? I'm not really sure, he is in fairly close right past the first bar. I keep the reel loose in case he is just stalled, when I see Dustin turn in for the beach run, I set his weight.

Now my turn. I grab another ray slab about 15 pounds on a 20/0 mustad with #19 single strand.

After watching the conditions Dustin faced, I walked the kayak a fair distance up current, and walked it out past the wash into waist deep water, the started my wait for a break in the interval. Seeing my set, I jump in and paddle for all I'm worth. I decide this ray is going to sit all night until hit, so I'm going for a long drop. I wanted a good 300-350 yard drop, but it just wasn't happening with this headwind.

I get may 200, 250 at the most and I am outta gas. I make the drop, the weigh goes, but I have no forward motion any more and the ray sticks to the back of the yak! Its way too rough to turn around, and I start paddling offshore again, but I've been drifting inshore since the drop, so the ray still lays there. Finally I just use the paddle to push the darn thing off the stern.

I get the easy ride back in to take a minor dump in the surf zone, and I get ready to run my 6/0 on a shorter drop with a nice black drum carcass and head.

I drop it maybe 150 yards and we begin to get settled in as its getting dark.

Two locals engage us in conversation, and are inquiring about our large gear. After we tell them we are fishing for tarpon and cobia, the tell us its the wrong season, as they are surf fishermen also ( one a local fly fishing buff and the other the coach of the local HS football team) They seem like descent chaps, and since they are brother fishermen, so we tell them we are after sharks. They are extremely interested, but promise us “there are no sharks on this beach” (LOL, I can't tell you the depth of that irony without giving away the location, lets just say its notoriously sharky) So they hang out, have a beer and we all talk fishing and swap tales...Turns out, later that night, this would be a fortuitous event.

Anyway, as low tide is approaching, Mr Weed begins to make his presence felt. Our lightsticks keep making little short jerks, and my short drop and Dustin's casted setup seem to be getting hits probably from sharpies, as they are moving down the beach. All of our rigs are moving left down current slowly, so I'm glad I made the long drop when I had the chance.

Dustin's 80 wide gets weeded out, and washes up at low tide, and when he checks the bait, the slab has a nice round bite mark, that I would estimate at least good 7 foot shark made. Even with the massive moon, its not a night for kayaking, so Dustin does a lob into the gut to await the incoming tide.

Just before 11:00 pm, (2;10 minutes before Dustin's window)Dustin and I are standing together talking, and our new found friends show up with beer and a pretty young friend named Heather, when line starts a steady roll off my 9/0. We both stand there about 10 seconds and realize its not weed this time, and we calmly walk over to the reel.

I left my leather glove attached to the reel handle with a leather strap, and it takes me a good 20 seconds to get it off and on my hand before picking up the rod. I can feel our antsy spectators wanting to scream “Please-Just pick up that reel will you” Anyway I'm not rushing, its a nice steady run, I get comfy and gloved up, and I sense Dustin backing me up from behind with my new belt and plate as I remove the rod from the PVC holder.

Shortly after picking up the rod, I feel some head movement, and a pickup in speed, and I know this fish has the bait. She is back to maintaining a good steady roll when I begin to engage some drag to set the hook. More head shakes and a slight pickup in speed and I begin to lay drag on her. I don't remember how long she ran, but it was long and steady. Now I have her set and locked and I feel a good fish, but I'm not sure how good. I'm thinking a fair sized sand bar.

Dustin, the ever present comedian, starts teasing me, are you playing this thing out for our guest as I am adjusting the straps on my harness system. I start gaining line, and begin to think I'm going to skull drag a 6 footer up the beach. Dustin wisely tells me to stay high on the beach, and he walks the 50 yards down to the water with the lights and tail rope.

I have regained maybe 100-150 yards of line when suddenly things begin to change. I think this is when the fish realized he was truly hooked up. Suddenly in the shallower water, strong violent head shakes are felt, and I feel the tail as her boiler room commands flank speed. I'm really locked down, and in a minute everything I had gained in 15 minutes was gone and then some. From this point on, it was a brutal struggle to gain any line. I told my bystanders this is either a really good fish or a foul hooked fish. I begin to regret putting on my warm nite time gear,as the sweat begins to pour off me. My bystanders leave me alone as I slowly gain line and take some extra lamps down to be with Dustin in the wash. So for me, its all 15 minutes of brutal lean, pump, drop and reel to regain line. Once again, I have the fish maybe 150 yards out, and she doesn't like the shallows, I feel her boiler room powering up just as I had reeled down on her and she begins a power run. This was the only time in the fight I let off any drag, as my line was making insane noises and I knew I was approaching the breaking point. So I gave a little let her run fifty, and started to lock down again. I was almost to the point of setting down in the sand three times during the fight, but I knew this shark would rest if I let her, and I wasn't going to outlast her that way. As I got her back up around the bar 100-15o yards out it was a brutal war of will. I could barely gain any line, even on the tip drop all I might get was half a turn with my palm under the handle, inch by inch. I resorted to leaning, and slowly waking back five steps, then reeling what I could on my return steps,

Suddenly, I felt a little give in the fish gained some line and then she resumed her solid dead non moving weight. I recognize the surf is washing the shark slowly across the bar, and I time the give, reel for all I'm worth and wait for the next set. Suddenly the unyielding weigh begins to give and I realize the bar is crossed, and she is in the final gut. I hear screaming and lights moving around, but I can't make out any words due to the wind, and I can't see anything. I working my gear to the max now and I hear Dustin going for the fish in the knee/thigh water. I no longer have any idea what is happening 50 yards down the beach, but I suddenly feel a complete give. I late learn as Dustin was approaching the fish, my shock leader had given its all on the bar and the 250 was sanded completely through, with a nice tapered end. At this point, Dustin does his Samuel Jackson impersonation and exclaims “UUHUNT-AH, no you don't mother....” and charges in a grabs him by the tail as she turned out for open water. Dustin does the caveman drag and gets the tail rope on, and the rest was the usual pandemonium of effecting the release and getting a few photos.

I am physically whipped, but I hear screaming that sounds like “Get down here quick, laced with some salty language not fit for non fisherman consumption. I hear “Tiger' and my dream suspicion that I dared not voice was confirmed. Pics were taken, and my arms were to gone from 40 minutes of pumping to drag this fish back out solo, I borrowed some spare arm from Dustin.

She was a really beefy thick female, we never taped her but we let her go to fight again. This was my first tiger, and my PB, a victory I share gratefully with brother Dustin, because I could have never landed that fish on 60 pound mono by myself, the bars would have cut my mono if I was down by the waters edge.

If I can hammer home one belief I have on display here is “Fish anytime you have an opportunity.” I had many more reasons “not to fish” this weekend than I had “for fishing”- but despite being less than totally prepared I was there for my lucky shot and with Dustin's help, was able to capitalize on it.

We fished the night until sun up, left the beach after 7 am and had a big cholesterol filled breakfast at the local greasy spoon. We shopped around various tackle shops, drove the island, hit the pier to see a 28 pound king caught that didn't impress us much after last night beyond “nice live bait”and napped in our cars. Preparing to fish that afternoon, turns out my son had brought home Strep Throat earlier that week and graciously given it to my wife and me (My wife went to urgent care Saturday morning and gave me the news). I was going downhill fast, trying to fake it the best I could, but when during lunch I told Dustin I probably wouldn't run a rod out that evening, that I'd just help him fish, Dustin looked at me like I was green, like my father used to look at me whenever I had a hair brained scheme in mind and said 'Dude, your really need to go home.” He was right of course, but I really wanted us to get another shot for his 80Wide. But odds were stacking up, thunderstorms were threatening for the afternoon. Dustin assured me everything was cool, and we decided to call it a trip. Good thing too, major thunderstorms ripped through that nite, and by the time I got home I had the fever and shakes so bad I had the heater on full blast in the car.

As I sit here typing on meds from the urgent care this morning, I can say despite the difficulties, I would not have had this trip any other way. It was a real privilege to share the capture and release of such a nice shark with brother Dustin, and it was a two man catch all the way. All I ask is maybe next trip we top this with a 10 plus hammer for Dustin!

Never forget our wounded warriors.
Matthew 4:19

19 Tigers beached in one night is CRAZY!

Awesome job!

Thanks Josh for keeping team Catchin'Jiants in the hunt I know its tough since your the only one fishing and I am land locked in MD. YOU DA MAN!!!!

Simply incredible, now to think with all those 6-9 footers chewing not allowing bait to sit very long...how many 10-14 footers might have been lurking as well? This is definitely one of the most remarkable nights in LBSF. Will you show a lot of class to fish with just about anyone and produce results while teaching/learning from every angler, that is what a true legend is about. Hope to see you on the West Coast in search of King Kong, I need to get my 14 everol worked

Congrats. That's a nice mess of tigers well done

"Notoriously sharky?" Don't give it away to us haha

Congrats again

This only proves that tag and release is truly the way to go. What an awesome nights work!!! The more tags we distribute, the more feedback and info is collected upon recapture and that data will ultimately help us to determine their migration patterns and be able to know when and where they are during the year and be able to target a specific species at any given time. Keep it up guys!!!!!