End of August report (Couple lessons learned)

This is a good read but also pics you can skip to LOL

Friday night and Saturday morning (8/16 and 8/17)

We hit the sand on the outgoing tide with the anticipation of taking a nap and then fishing the high tide @ 5 AM. I was surprised by the action at dead low tide that night.
The spinning rod went off but the fish spit the bait when I tightened the drag. The chunk was shredded and the hook was barely in there. Just missed him!

The 14/0 went off but the bait was dropped as I took the rod from the sand spike. The bait was still there but the brick was gone. The current was light so I left the bait in.

I was asleep and I woke up to a loud POP! I had the SSV 6500 LL casted out with a baby blue runner (pilchard size) on a 2 oz weight. I was hopin for a jack for some fresh bait. I guess the reel was just too quiet. 300 yards of line had been takin and when the line popped at the knot, I awoke. The sand spike was now leaning at 30 degrees and the reel was inches from the sand. I laughed at myself and I was thankful b/c I knew it could have been worse.

I got my nap and the rest of the crew showed up @ 430 AM to fish the high tide.
Bryan hooked up to a cuda fairly quick.

I hooked up to a good female lemon shark right at the High tide mark. Over the course of the night, I had reeled in the slack line since the brick had been cut off. I should have paid much more attention. I did not keep the line tight when bringing in the slack line. (I was half asleep) When the shark was taking line slowly while I let her eat, the line dug into the spool and locked up. Then the shark spooked and took off on the upon the hook set. I was caught off guard, one reel harness in and flat footed. I was jerked and dragged about 20 ft, into about 2 ft of water and caught my footing at the dropoff at the shoreline. After about 2 seconds the line came free and the spool went off at 100 MPH and then the bird nest appeared. At some point I touched the line and got a nasty burn from the mono on my thumb. I quickly put the reel in gear and recovered as much line as possible so I could have something to fight the fish with before she got down to the bird nest. I really thought I had a monster on a fast run, then I realized it was just the stretch in the line pulling itself back together. She didnt pull much drag and we got her on the sand for a quick release.

Thursday 8/22

Flyin SOLO so I just brought the spinning rod. Got first run, let him take line for about 10 seconds, he spits bait when I tightened the drag. I let it sit b/c I think he'll be back. And........he picks it up again within a minute and cuts me off within 5 seconds

Saturday 8/24

Just another night on the sand. A couple days after the full moon. The 14/0 goes off around 10:50PM (the high tide again)
This was my best fight on the 14/0 so far. Female bull, 90" to the tip. She pulled some tight drag and the side of the reel got HOT! I was super stoked and kept tellin the crew to grab the tail rope b/c we got a real fish on the line this time. I was glad I run 130lb mono on that reel b/c there were frays and nicks in the line about 30 ft up past the leader. Lots of rocks by this inlet.

We hit the sand 2 or 3 times over the next week with zero success. I had a bait shredded by a little guy just as I was packin up for the night and Bryan had a short run by another little guy that took the tale off a bonita. We tried, Cuda, Bonita, and blue runner for bait. The Sharks just were not around the area after that full moon.

Sunday 9/1
Got an eagle Ray at high tide, about 630PM. This guy was on the spinning gear and he bull dogged south and ran straight for the shore line. There were some tourists down the way and I yelled to them "GET OUT OF THE WATER!" Just as this happens, he skims the surface, exposing a wing which looked like a dorsal fin LOL.
The ray was pulling some serious drag and I didnt have much leverage with the 12' rod so I didnt think I could turn him before he ran that braided line through the group of people. They got out of the way and he also turned so everyone was good. I put down some more drag and horsed him in. Had to flip him over to get the hook out and he was not happy. All the tourists came over to see him and they were amazed. Nicknamed this ray "Lucky." He was missing a tale and had a nasty scar by his head.

Over the rest of the night, two big baits, untouched