July 2015 report: Where did the fish go?

July 2: We put out a couple baits on the Full Moon. I never have luck on the full moon but I hear stories so I figure, what the hell. I got a solid run after an hour. I let the fish eat for several seconds and then set up on him quick. He started peeling some drag. I was bowed up and he was runnin steady. We were thinking hammer. Then he slowed down and started thrashing around. I cranked him in pretty easy and then he woke up at the sand bar. I put the reel in low gear and dragged him right over it. The fish turned out to be a 9' male Lemon shark. He was not the fattest but he was a fighter.

July 6: SKUNKED. Went back out and dropped a few baits. Some far and one close. The long drop got picked up. I let the fish eat for a while since it was a big bait. When I set up on the fish, that rod bowed over and the pressure was on, then POP. The line went completely slack before I even had a chance to crank in and set that circle hook. I guess he just swam around without chewing and that hook ripped from the bait.
Another bait was hit a couple times by small sharks. I had another bait stolen without a click of the reel. A nasty storm went by and blew in a tone of weeds. The long drop was hit again but between the weeds and the waves, we were slow to act and the bait was stolen. While checkin another rod, the short drop was hit and screaming. The drag was pretty tight due to the weeds on the line, the hook pulled from the bait just as I got to the reel. We just packed up after that.

July 16: SKUNKED. Put some baits out far and one in close. The short drop was hit a couple times but nothing ever committed to it. I hooked up on the long drop. Everything went according to plan. 3 Minutes into the fight, the fish swam at us. I cranked quickly in high speed, the fish turned around again, shook really hard after several seconds and spit the hook. This is the first fish that has spit a large circle hook on me. It was very frustrating. The fish shook so hard that my rod shook side to side, even with a few hundred yards of line out there.

July 19: SKUNKED. I put a bait out far and one close. The long drop was hit a couple times as I was packing up. Nothing big though. My short drop was hit, but it was weird. I had thought the group to my left snagged me as they reeled in for the night. I felt something on the line that dragged down the line. I could feel the tension, then slack. I went over to talk to them and they said they were all clear and lines out. I went back to my rod and there was more slack on the line. I reeled it in to check it out. The bait was not touched, there was a bit e mark on the leader almost a foot across, two feet up the leader. A couple inches from the mono on the wire there was a kink, in the shape of a ribbon or loop. I guess the fish got caught up in the rig and never found the bait. He didnt spook and take off fast though.

July 24: SKUNKED. Hit the beach for the low tide bite. I yakked a bait out 100 yards at 8:18PM. I did not cast out the surf rod yet b/c there were still some people in the water to the south of me. At 8:30PM a 7' lemon shark come strolling by, 20 ft from the shore. I could have jumped on him with a tail rope! I told the people down the beach that they might want to get out of the water b/c there was a shark swimming their way. They saw the fins and RAN. It just went right by them, exactly where they were. They were was a southern ray and an eagle ray there were runnin laps up and down the beach. I got hit by eagle ray and he spit the bait. I was glad, didnt feel like dealing with his bull crap at the time. Some guys set up to the south of me and jumped a big tarpon. No one landed anything. I started packing up after two hours.

July 25: Ran back to the beach for the low tide bite again. I didnt get to see as much sea life swimming around but I landed a tipper on the HXW and then jumped a tarpon on the surf rod. The tipper had a tag in him so I am excited to see when and where he was tagged.

July 30: SKUNKED. Ran out after the rain and dropped some baits. The small fish were hittin the short drop over and over. The long drop was never touched.

July 31: Full Moon again. Went back out in the rain once the lightning went away. Got one bait out far and a couple in close. The small fish were hittin the bonita all night and I got a big nurse on a piece of Cuda. She was a beast and more work than fun on the HXW. Nothin hit the long drop again.