Borderline Insanity Report -- Sandbars and Tigers!

Hello to all our brothers and sister here at SFSC....been a while since we posted a report here....staying kind of busy with our site...not a very good excuse Thought we would post this one up to stay in touch with everyone. Hope the fishing is getting good in the southern part of the state. If life works in our favor we will head south soon and hopefully get to fish with some the great anglers here at SFSC. Take care and keep putting those sharks on the sand or pier or bridge

LaSharkHunter
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Borderline Insanity---Why? Because Shark fishing will do that to you! Because for the last month we have had sharks have their way with us driving us crazy and making us want to fish more and harder! Because I hate the cold and more than the cold I hate the COLD WIND! We have fished several nights below 40 degrees and many nights in the low 50s with the ever blowing wind of the last couple of months. We have had a few nice temperature days but the gulf was crashing hard on those days or it rained or the fog was so thick it might as well been raining. Oh I don't want to forget the monster mosquitoes that come out on the warm days...I mean really is there ever a nice shark fishing trip???

We have not let the weather or the waves stop us....we have fished where the conditions allow us...some days that's the bay, some days the pass, some days the Gulf. One spot took us 2.5 hours to get to with 4 kayak trips and several long walks to the truck....the INSANITY!!

We have gotten hits by small tigers in all of these but some areas have definitely been more productive than others

The amount of information we have learned since moving here is astonishing....I actually thought I knew this place well before we moved here but there is no comparison to now...It would have taken me many years not living here to learn this much.

With that being said below is our report for the last two weeks....I hope you find it informative, helpful and enjoyable.

Our report starts with a nice trip with the kids. Jesse called and said he had his son Gage for the weekend and was hoping we could get him to see a shark....so we hit the beach with a big crew this was a nice fun night but it was slow and I was starting to wonder where the sharks were. Then finally Amaya's rod with spanish for bait gets hit but the shark drops it We all figure the bait is gone and I'm talking about reeling it in and putting more bait on when it gets rocked!

Amaya with the fight on!

I say this with all seriousness the girl is getting good!

A beautiful 6ft 6in Sandbar!

Shortly after the release of Amaya's shark Jesse takes all the kids to McDonalds...Bless his soul! I think he just wanted to get out of the cold Well they are not out of the parking lot good and my 80w clicks a few small times and slacks up. We wait and finally get the hook home. Tara has been very patient and I figured it was her turn to put a shark on the sand.

Turns out to be a nice 5ft 6in Tiger!! Congrats Tara!!!!! (#38 for SOS)

That was it for that night no more clicks.

Next trip was made by myself to the pass. Once again I was quickly into the small tigers eating my baits up. These things are frustrating! Big enough to chew your bait to pieces but not big enough to actually pick it up and let you get the hook set! I have thought about changing rigs to catch them but really I don't fish for the smaller sharks so I keep doing what is right for me. Later on this night around 1:00 am I have another small shark eating a freshly deployed bait...I get completely aggravated and reel the bait in 30yds or so to try and get it away from him. It seems to work I lay down on my cot and close my eyes. Within minutes my 80w Avet sounds like it is going to blow up!! I'm like "finally a big shark has found my bait!!" I harness up and the fight is on...this fish is powerful!! I finally get to feel "the power" again Fish steadily pulling over 40lbs of drag off my reel. I'm reaching for my phone to call Diana to come help me when the line finds a sharp object I should have been more upset but really I couldn't stop smiling...I finally had found a big fish!!

Me and Jesse go back two nights later....no big fish...here is an example of smaller tigers eating our baits.

Get a call from Firedawg this morning saying the pomps were biting and the rays were everywhere! So that afternoon Me, Jesse and Peter hit the beach...We don't get any pomps but we do snag 6 of these (they went into the SOS freezer)

On Friday night is Jesse's Birthday! Happy Birthday Jesse! We tried to get him a shark but more of the same.....click click slack slack. We had a few drinks to warm the bodies and we laughed and laughed until we just all crashed.

We take a couple days off from fishing and bring the girls to their dads for the holidays. Me and Diana drive back straight through the night get home load the truck up and make our 2.5hour haul to a spot we have been wanting to fish. We bring ray for bait with us and run out a couple rods immediately. Then we start bait fishing. Diana catches a "dog fish" quick! I know immediately the sandbars are in with this catch. We run it out still kicking. Shortly after a school of fish erupts right in front of us! I scream Bonito! Rig up a bubble rig and we go to work! We get two before the boats cause the school to disappear. Have to say I thoroughly enjoyed catching the fish right in front of these most very inconsiderate boaters!

Diana with her catches!

Not long after the "bones" disappear Diana's rod with the "dog fish" starts to scream! Fish on! What you have to understand about this spot that it is very deep! Up to 50 feet in some areas and the fish definitely use this to their advantage. The fight from these things was unbelievably strong!

Our first catch of the evening a beautiful 6ft 5in male sandbar!

Wasn't long after that and her Avet with fresh bonito was going off! Fish on! Great Fight!
Apex Custom Rods! I have to admit these rods are awesome and we both love them!

A Gorgeous sunset catch! 6ft 5in male sandbar

Bill shows up and we quickly get his baits out. We are all pumped. The bite is definitely hot! Not long and Diana's Avet is getting hit again Does anyone else see a trend here???

Now we all know this is a smaller shark not a very strong hit or run. Diana doesn't harness up and starts to put the heat on this fish. Then all of a sudden her apex rod bends over strong! Line starts to peel off the 80w!! OMG she is hooked to a monster!!! She can barely hold on and I scream at her to sit down in the sand. Me and Bill help her up and harness her up. Then the fish charges the beach (so we think) and then takes off again! I mean this was amazing!! Then it charges again and I'm screaming "reel, reel, reel" and then this fish pops up to the surface.....We are all silent then in unison we all say "what the hell?" I grab the leader and pull the small 6ft male sandbar to the beach.

It doesn't take long to realize what happened! Do you see it??? A real monster was trying to eat her shark!!!!!!!!!!!

After a bit of silence from the reels we all fall to sleep. I am finally awakened by the sweet sound of my 14/0 clicking away. I drive the hook home and I'm pleasantly surprised at what I feel!

Here I'm thinking might be a 9ft class tiger...but where are the head shakes??

Well turns out to be a beautiful 7ft 10in female sandbar that was foul hooked in the pec fin....my PB for sandbar

On the moon rise at 230am Diana's 12/0 with bonito is rocked again!!

This time a super healthy 6ft 9in Male Sandbar

We awake to a beautiful sunrise. With high expectations of catching the "bones" again. They didn't show but the schools of mullet did!! Wow there were thousands of big mullet swimming by. So we snag a couple and run them out live. Then we catch 3 skates and run one out live Finally a small school of bones show up and we catch one and run it out fresh As we sit around talking about the live mullet being out all day and not getting hit....maybe the crabs have eating them off the hook? Just at that moment her reel takes off....I mean screaming!!! The rod bows on the hook set and for whatever reason the hook doesn't set No worries not long after her rod with bonito on it takes off!!!

This fish did some serious pulling!

Turns out to be a 6ft 10in super mad male Sandbar

We fish through the evening sunset. Always accompanied by our friend.

Didn't want to get soaking wet from the fog again so we call it a night and reel in the baits. I couldn't believe to find the mullet and skate were still alive!!

The next morning we hit the beach mid morning with high hopes of fresh ray. After a couple of hours I finally get one!

Didn't take long and Diana's rod gets hit mid afternoon...nice hit and we both figured 7ft tiger class

As darkness falls all the rods start getting hit....lot of click click slack slack. Then finally her 12/0 does a little sing and she drives the hook home!

We get it on the beach with bait still intact!

It's a beautiful 6ft 7in Tiger!! (#41 for SOS)

We both felt victory, vindicate, accomplished or whatever you want to call it with this beautiful fish on the beach!

Here are close up pics of the bait....I've been seeing these marks on baits for 2months! I knew it was small tigers but finally got the proof back Take a good look so if you see these you know whats eating your baits.

The trip wasn't over it wasn't long before her Avet was singing the tone of a big hammer!!! Unfortunately the line cut on something. I also had another run from a bigger tiger that didn't leave teeth marks....

Hopefully weather and life will cooperate and we can give them one more try before they are gone for the winter.

Hope you enjoyed and maybe found something useful along the way...

Wishing you all Sharks on the Sand

LaSharkHunter and Sharkgirl