End of Summer Sharking Road- trip

Got the chance to fish with my wife Maggy ,my brother Jorge his wife and his son Jorge Jr , and some close friends to put in some fishing before the end of summer when the hurricanes start moving through ruining the favorable fishing conditions.Rather then a hardcore trip this was more of a family friendly outing.My brother Jorge had his high school buddy Chris and son meet us at the spot to try our luck.

Everyone got the chance to hook up but not everyone landed there fish

Jorge jr gets his shot but the cards went against him

Jorge gets hooked up and prevails

My brother Jorge poses with his son Jorge jr (L) and Julio (center)w the first shark to be caught -Jorge's 6 foot 5 inch Bull shark

Jorge and his high school buddy Chris Christianson

Jorge and Jordan (Julio's son)

I tag the Bull shark and it's quickly released

Julio stands next to one of the rods while he eyes the seafood tray and cold soda next to him

During the first night at about two thirty in the morning the wind starts to howl and the surf builds up, so Julio and I make a lean to with the kayak ,a tarp and our sleeping bags tucked underneath to provide us a bit of comfort .We fall asleep for no more then 20 minutes as the storm passes over us.As i awaken i see a pretty blonde girl walking down the beach towards my brother Jorge's camp and i shine the Q Beam spotlight on her.She continues walking and touches a light stick hanging from my brother's line.My brother says she looked really drunk or stoned out of her mind. When i get up I ask Julio if everything's ok and he tells me he had a hit but missed the fish.So i get up look around and don't see my two 12/0's so i ask Julio "what the hell is going on" ?.He has no idea where my 12/0's are ,,,,,,,,no one does !!Right away I'm thinking the chick walking down the beach is taking our rods but then i run towards her and she is just walking around in a daze .So i run to the hotel parking lot thinking maybe I can catch someone with my rods but no has any rods and some drunk college age kids are hanging out by there room but they have'nt seen anyone with big Penn reels walk by .No I'm pissed off ,rage in my mind and angry at myself for dozing off and getting vandalized like a naive kid.I go look where the rods were to do some detective work ,,,,,,,the PVC rod holders are gone and a half moon shaped hole is left where they once were.THAT"S IT!!!!!!The storm caused the waves to wash up higher then normal ,ate away around the PVC and the rods simply fell into the raging surf.Never in my 35 years of shark fishing had i ever had anything like this happen to me .By golly,you learn something new every day i tell myself !!! I'll get my rods back right now i figure so ,,,,,,I jump in the surf and drag my feet along the bottom as the surf pushes me around like a salmon in a river .NOTHING!!!I leave to sleep with the hopes of going out in the kayak to snag my rods in the morning.Disgusted with myself for allowing this to happen I ask everyone to drag there baits in at an angle at the end of the night to try and snag my line with there hooks.Two hours later there's a loud banging on my door and i run out because they have snagged one of my rods but it's stuck buried in the surf .I got out there like a MAN ON FIRE!!!!GIVE ME THAT LINE !!!! I wrestle with the line in my hand and walk out out into the raging surf."I GOT IT" i yell out one down ,one to go .Next morning after an hour of snagging up and down the beach i get my other 12/0.They are hosed off but the reels are full of very fine sand.To the shop for a complete overhaul they both go but first get the sand out I have one more night to fish.

After the first night the weather takes a turn for the worse and we are greeted in the morning by strong winds and rain with of an approaching system which make gives us the chance to do a little shopping with the wives.Later on in the evening the skies clear and the surf lays down so we take advantage of our favorable conditions catch two more sharks and we gotta get out of here.

The trip back was a rainy miserable one but we had lots of fun despite the crappy weather.