Awesome April - 2016 Tippers, Tigers, Hammer and more!

Solid Month. Started off slow but the big boys rolled in.

4/1: Skunked. Wish it was an April fools joke. I only put one bait out for myself but did some work for another couple guys I had out with me. One small run the whole night. I swear they are bad luck.

4/2: I decided not to call anyone and I ran to the same beach, same conditions, casted one bait, and had my first hit within 15 minutes. I assumed I was destined to fish alone since I can't catch fish with other people LOL. I was testing out these 2oz spiders sinkers. they work great and I can cast bigger chunks. Two more hits and I am bowed up! Had a good time with a tipper. After I released him, I casted another bait. No bite after 30 minutes so I left. One and done!

4/3: I went up North to hang out with Pete and Elliot while they did some promotional stuff before we went fishing. We hit the sand around 6pm in search of monsters but we found monster surf. Winds were kickin from the NNE. We moved down the beach a little and started getting some baits out. This was by far the roughest I have ever tried to fish. Pete had brought the Ocean Kayak Malibu Two or I would not have even tried to yak baits.

Pete got the first bait out with ease in the perfect timing between sets. He saw tippers out there and Elliot and I saw tippers riding in the waves. At one point we all saw something big and brown in the waves! Elliot casted some baits but they were not sticking so he yakked one out into the trough on the 50W and was almost immediately picked up. He lost it on hook set and brought in half a bait. He put out another bait and it was also hit and run.

I started running my bait out. It was nuts. Two breaks to get through and at some point, a big set out there on the second bar. I was lucky enough that it was just swells when I got over the bar. Still Huge! definitely the worst I have ever yakked. I was gassed, workin out a cramp in my back and dreading the paddle back in. I scooted to the very back of the yak and started my trip back to shore. I caught a couple waves and made it back without dumping but damn I had drifted far south! Long walk back! Between the wind and the surf, the drag had to be set tight to hold the line on that reel. I made sure the spike was set in really good.

When I got back, Pete ran a bait for Elliot. The tide started going out now and it was worse than before. Pete dropped one in the trough and came back to dry off. It had gotten dark now and Elliot tied up some glow sticks to the line. This is the first time I have used them. Good idea. This bait was smaller than the others and when it went off, Elliot stuck this fish good. He landed a tipper and got some fun pics.

We were just sittin on the big baits and I decided to cast a bait since the tippers were in close. After a little while I heard a whining noise in the distance and realized it was my reel screaming LOL. The wind and waves were loud so it drowned out the distinct scream of the reel. I got another tipper for Elliot to wrestle. Things settle back down and Pete get a small bite and a couple clicks on the reel. The line goes slack and he reels in several feet but nothin much going on.

We're sittin around sharing fishing stories. The wind is bad, water is rough, no action. It is 10 o clock and we decided that we'll take off at 11 since we all have stuff to do Monday morning. About 10:30pm my reel screams and I see that red glow stick taking off down the beach into the water. My spike was vertical when I set it up but it was dancing at 45 degrees and I thought it was going to dump in the sand since that drag was tight due to the conditions. I get there in time and loosen the drag. The fish is taking line and Pete runs up with my harness. I set up on the fish and I am bowed up tight. She's pullin some drag and we're thinking big boy! But I just start to manhandle her on the 130. I guess she changed direction and swam at me for a little while b/c I was crankin in high speed. She turned and almost caught me off guard. I dropped to low gear and horsed her close to shore. Once I had her in the trough, the real fight started. We identified a solid lemon shark and she was not comin over the bar easy. Low gear, she's pulling drag, and now I am feelin the power. Luckily she wore out and I was able to bring her in with a set of waves. She saved some energy for the sand LOL. She was a good lookin fish, very bright and yellow. Elliot did what he does and wrestled her up while I ran to join. Got some pics and sent her on her way. Still super green, I was much more tired than she was!

We were dubious about our chances and put three fish on the sand. It was a good night.

4/4 -4/8: Skunked 3 times. Couple different baits of different sizes at different beaches. Couple trips were uneventful. On that Friday we had an active night. A few runs, notin to get super excited about but enough to keep our hopes up. At the end of the night I reeled in big bait with a nice perfect bite mark taken from the middle of it. Reel never clicked.

4/12: I brought my surf rod to work to hit the beach straight from work. I only had a bullet bonita but I figured with the conditions just right, I only needed one bait. I was wrong. I had my first run in under ten minutes. Got a new bait out and jumped either a tarpon or tipper. Casted out my last chuck and caught a jack. Casted out a chunk of the fresh jack and caught a small tipper. Now the sun was down and I had a little prime time left for a bigger fish.
Casted out another chunk and relaxed. No bites for 30 minutes so I started to pack up. With my keys and wallet in my pockets, sunglasses hanging from my collar, and grabbing the line cutters from the buck, that reel started screaming! I empty my pockets and set up on the fish. He aint no tipper! I am bowed up nice. He is runnin straight out, I turn him, bring him in a little and he runs south. I turn up the drag and sit down. I get him turn around and I am bringing him in little by little and he starts cruising my way. Sweet, I get a little bit of a break! I keep the tension and get some line back. As I am pulling him back my way, the hook pulled! Damn it. Probably a good lemon. I'll get him next time!

4/13: Dinner plans were cancelled so I ran to the beach with a couple people, last minute. We had three baits casted out. The slack tide arrived and we started to cast out new baits. I had a chuck of jack that I caught the day before and even though it had been hit by the crabs, there was still some juicy meat on there. I decided to re cast the same bait. As I walked over to my buddy to check out his rig, my reel started screaming, like not more than 2 minutes after I put the rod in the sand spike. Landed a stud tipper. He was a jumper! Released him and casted out two fresh baits. No hits after 30 minutes so we packed up.

4/15: Last day with conditions good enough to fish so we gave it a shot. Went out for the big boys. Big baits does not always equal big fish. I ended up with a tipper on the 130. When that fish hit, we thought it was gonna be a monsta but I dragged his ass in faster than top water spinner bait. That was the only action for the night besides the waves picking up and the offshore lightning.

4/22: Skunked. I dont even think we had a hit. Big bait, little bait, short, far....nothin.

4/26: Went out with Pete and Adam. We had a variety of baits and some big gear. My rod got thumped and it bounced but nothing ran. 5 minutes later, Adam is running a bait and Pete's reel goes off. He gets a solid Tiger. Later on, Pete is running his bait and Adam gets a solid run. Fish drops it, picks it up and drops again. Something toothy had left some nice marks in his fish. I had checked my bait and I had a bare hook, Ran another one real quick. When I got back, Adam ran another bait and I told him, "each time we got a hit, someone was running baits, now that I am back, it is my turn!" While Adam was runnin his bait, I got a couple bumps on the rod, I ran over, and kept an eye on it. Nothin was happening so I decided to add a little bit more tension to the line and the fish took off! Hooked up, we knew it was a hammer or large shark. Solid fight, pulled some good drag. I was bowed up nice! About 35 minutes to land. He taped out at 10'3". Cut the wire, pulled the hook through, got him back in the water and worked with him in the shallows until he swam off. Just needed some time between the sets of swells. It was a great night!

4/30: This was the one year mark from when I landed my first ever hammer in the 2015 Big Hammer Challenge. It wasn't looking to be the best conditions but it was Saturday so we said "what the hell." Got a big group together including SharkBound, Snook hunter, Tipper Taker, and several others. We hit the sand with surf rods, short drops, long drops, everything you can think of. I was running baits for two others and myself. We checked baits on two of the rods and as I was grabbing a new piece of bait for a buddy's rod, I got a hit. they had already had the drag loose enough not to spook the fish. I got set up and the kept a little tension on the fish while she toyed with the bait. After a little while she finally had a solid run going so I set upon her and it was on like donkey kong! She had a gooood run and I knew it was a solid fish. I had her turned around for a few seconds and she whipped around again and ran out. After she slowed down, I started crankin on her. It wasnt easy, even in low gear. she was thrashin around and would pull some drag sporadically. We figured Bull or solid tiger. She had another good run by the sand bar. Once she was in the white wash, I cranked her in with some waves. I heard someone yell tiger! YES! She was a nice healthy fish and taped out at 9'1" .

You can see her swim off in the last pic, right through the wash. These guys are bullet proof!

It has been a good Month. Cant wait to see what May will bring!