Doing The Time 6/27

John and I have been out quite a bit the last month searching for the monster that got the best of us in May. But lately the bite has been extremely slow, between the two of us averaging only 1 to 2 runs per trip. If you missed a hookset, you missed your shot at catching a shark that night. A much different, unwelcomed scenario than what we were used to in the Spring. But, when it is slow, the excitement is somewhat elevated when a rod does go off. The bait has been very scarce as well, with a large absence of jacks and rays making the hunt for large baits a vigorous task.

On the eve of the Summer Solstice John and I hit a beach that I've never been to but John has done well at in the past. We got baits out at sunset and waited. A few of the blacktip rods were going off a few hours into the night but we couldn't get anything to the sand. A big rod finally clicked at 1:15. John let it eat pretty good and did the running man like a madman, his signature move. The hook was set but it didn't take any line so we knew the culprit had to be a lemon and a decent one at that to pick up that size of bait. I leadered the shark and saw a profile of a lemon but the coloration of a nurse. It turned out to be an 8'4" lemon that must've just gotten out of the backcountry as it was the darkest one we've seen. Cool looking shark.

The other rods didn't get touched so we called it a night in the early morning hours. We made another trip or two after that but the slowness continued to dominate although we did have one nice fish on that bit through the main line. A week later we were back at it. We had to work hard to produce bait but big/fresh bait can make the difference when times are tough. The 12/0s were deployed at 8:30pm along with a few bait rods. The lines were quiet yet again for hours, a real killer when conditions tell you it should be on.

At the pinnacle of the high tide, the blue glow stick on my 12/0 line shot toward the Gulf and set off a roar that my 12/0 hasn't heard in awhile. I picked up the rod, turned off the clicker and flipped the lever to freespool to minimize any pressure. It was a moderate, steady run. After about 40 seconds the line went slack. I tightened the star drag, flipped the lever to retrieve and slowly cranked until I caught up to the fish and felt weight. It felt the pressure of the circle hook and took off on a 20 second run. I tightened the drag more but that just made him speed up. I handed the rod off to John for a second so I could get harnessed up properly. Once in the harness, I really put the heat on. It eventually stopped running but quickly turned into a standoff where I nor the fish were able to do much. I locked the drag down and got its head turned. I gained about 100 yards and then it charged the beach another 100 yards. My right bicep was burning from cranking so fast..it was all I could do to prevent from giving the fish any slack.

We got the fish into the surf zone.. I walked back toward the condos while John went for the leader..HAMMER! YES! I stuck the rod in the holder and went to help John but the shark was still green and took off. Easily another 75 yards gone on a locked down drag. I gained the line back and on the second go around John got hold of its tail. I ran to help and we both pulled. The shark was still green and whipped its tail around thunderously, knocking both of us to the ground. Once secured in the wash, we scrambled for the release gear. The circle was embedded in the bottom lip and was removed on the first attempt. A quick measurement was taken..exactly 9'0"! We took some pics and promptly released the female greater back to the briny deep. While not the monster we were searching for, we were glad to catch a nice shark amidst a number of fishless and runless nights.