Dusting off the shark rods....west coast report

I was itching to do some late winter sharkn!

With all the nice weather that we have had, we decided to go out a few weekends ago.
We knew the beaches were gonna be packed, but we got out there around 2 in hopes of
catching some fresh bait. No such luck of catching any bait , so we used old, frozen popsicles from last year and some
bait that my buddy Kyle had caught the night before.

I was feeling sort of down and out and a little pessimistic about our first sharkin trip of the year due to the lack of fresh bait.
We waited for the beach to thin out before we launched any baits.

It was a very busy saturday!

Now that looks more like it!.... It was feeding time!!!!!!

It didn't take long for my 12/0 to get nailed! Hooked up!

After a short tussle with this gal we had our first shark of the season on the beach!
A healthy 6ft. Sandbar!

As we are attempting to release this gal, we hear the old familiar sound of a reel screaming from down the beach.
My buddy's 9/0 is singing loudly and he runs down the beach and gets hooked up.

He does battle with the shark for about 5 mins only to realize that they are both in a stalemate.
The shark has gotten stuck on the sandbar and was not budging. I was not too thrilled with the move I had to make next.
The only thing there is to do in a situation like this is...... GO AND GET IT!!!
By the way Will........you owe me one!!!

I pull the shark off the sandbar and quickly return back to the beach.
The shark is practically beached when it makes one last move back into the drink and the hook pulls. :bang:
I was disappointed that Will didn't get a pic with his first sandbar; however, it was a good release.
The shark kept swimming up and down the trough between the beach and the almost visible sandbar.
There was one instance where the it swam towards the beach and we almost were able to grab it.
We decided to let it go and yak out some more bait.

The reels didn't stay quiet for long!
My girlfriend takes the 12/0 and muscles a feisty 6'3'' sandbar to the beach!

We quickly tag and release the shark and prepare for another battle with mother nature's apex predator.

My 9/0 goes screaming into the night moments after the release of Val's shark.
I reel in another 6ft. female sandbar shark.
Yes, Val...... yours was bigger .....LOL

This shark was particularly feisty and made Will and I pay.
Will injures his hand while trying to release the crazy fish and I receive the worst shark burn ever.
The shark gives me a free exfoliation on the top of my foot that later causes me to go to the doc and get a tetanus shot.

Well, by this time, we were all pretty excited about our luck so far...minus the injuries
It was Rob's turn to battle one of these toothy critter!

For this being Rob's first time reeling in on of these beasts, he did an awesome job!
Another 6'3'' female sandy.

We all are pretty satisfied with our catches so far, but we still had bait to launch.
We rig up more rods and launch them in hopes of catching a monster.
By then the huge, bright, yellow moon was rising behind us and the tide started coming up.
We had to move the shark rods up on the edge of the 4ft. drop in order for us to be able to get to them.
The water was coming up quickly and it was pretty cold when you got wet. With that in mind I was hoping
that my rod would get hit, so that I wouldn't have to go into the cold water to wrestle with one of these critters.
After a while, with no action my 12/0 baited wit a huge ladyfish, goes screaming of into the ocean!
Could this be the big shark we were after?

This fish felt huge! It made many runs and we even seen it jump. I thought it might be a tarpon, but it ended up being
a decent Blacktip!

A little nerve racking being on the cliff

I walk the shark down aways from the 4ft. cliff so that it would be easier to release. We didn't get a measurement or a tag placement
because all of the equipment was a good walk down the beach.

After we released the blacktip, I had it set in my mind that I was done for the night. I knew we had a
long walk back to the car and a ton of gear we had to bring back with us. I decided not to launch another bait.
Will still had one rod out in hopes of catching a beast!
As we are starting to pack up some stuff, his reel starts singing.
He is hooked up with a decent fish!

Don't look down man!!!

The fish puts up a decent fight and to our surprise it turns out to be a 7'6'' winter time Lemon!
Will's largest shark to date!

The release

The Lemon shark capped off an excellent trip!
We were beat and decided to call it a night!

I am now optimistic about our future shark fishing excursions!
Thanks to Emily (Will's wife) we were able to have such great quality pics! It is her turn catch one of these magnificent creatures
next time!

The shark rods have been dusted off and are ready for more action!!!