Texas Mako Trip

Well, I debated long and hard whether or not I would post this report at all. Some will be glad, and some will be sad. When I look in the mirror these days, I see an old man staring back at me. Bad luck, poor choices, hard work, and mountains of adventures have left me with ''rent a car mileage". Life is short , so for the first time in awhile I'll actually post a fishing report.
The first true Winter in recent memory has made fishing trips few and far between. Still we have managed to sneak offshore and back a few times since the new year, and have been able to score some eats and escape with our lives.
The coolest thing that we have been doing is trying to put a SAT tag into a Shortfin Mako. Todd Neahr convinced someone at TPWD to entrust us with a couple of tags worth @ $5000 a piece. Crazy, I know. Well we have busted our asses this year trying to do just that. Though Jeff and Moose and I have tagged many Makos since @2003, the SAT tag requires something different to successfully attach. Time. It is like buying a Lotto ticket with 20 numbers. So...
This season we have experienced boat problems, injuries, WRONG NOAA FORECASTS, bad luck, and general frustration. Well we didn't give up, and finally got a little bit of love from the Electric Ocean.
We left for EC Classified Mako SAT Tag trip on beautiful seas and made our way offshore to destination X. The crew this time was El Capitan "Moose", myself, Todd Neahr, and Todd Horn. We got to work quickly, and in about an hour and twenty minutes we had Mako #1 hooked up solidly. Fish On!!!! No jumps for this beast, But Neahr fought him well, and we began to write the book on how to SAT tag a Mako in Texas waters. Except only not at all. After some tense moments to say the least, we had him boat side and tail-roped. And the blood began to pour out of him. We have perfected a single hook leader consisting of only one barbless 14/0 J hook, but it had felled the beast unintentionally. Knowing that we had set out on this trip in order to get these tags in, and ultimately gain knowledge about these magnificent creatures, this was a tough pill to swallow. Well get over it boys cause that is Mako fishing. It could have very well been one of us who bled out under blue skies. The fish was killed and secured along side. A good sized male, 8' 8'' and @340#.
We headed back to try for Mako number two, the day still young, and knowing that we had gotten close. Good battle practice. As we were fishing, one of the guys noticed some commotion off the bow. It turned out to be a huge Mola Mola. It was almost in camera range when the 50W screamed. I jacked him up and here we go again. This time Todd Horn was the angler and fought his fish beautifully. Another male, my guess would be in the mid 7' range @ 250#. The fish fought hard, and ultimately gave us one sweet backflip that Moose caught on film. As we prepared boat side for our SAT tag rodeo, he bit through the #900 cable and was gone. Clean getaway. All good. Back to work.
I haven't had a good multiple Mako day since before Jeff moved to Florida, but finally we had already had a great Winter shark trip. The crew was a well oiled machine. I rigged a live bait as the day's shadows grew longer. Soon a fish would cleanly steal this bait off the hook like a jewel thief. Betraying her presence with only a blur of purple fins and whitewater. A second livey was sent out, and this smart shark stole the bait with barely a ripple. Gotta love the Mako, my favorite fish in the sea. It was time to leave, but I begged Moose for a few more minutes. As I waited for one of the crew to score a fresh bait, I was greeted by a sight that I will never forget. As I stood at the stern, where I had worked all day, in front of me appeared this smart fish. Doing a drive-by. A most beautiful Mako in the low 9' range and pushing 400#+ easy. This may have been the first female of the day, or an exceptionally large male. The shark looked at me, looked at its dead comrade, and then disappeared. Seconds later it was back for a second look, leaving a wake like a ski boat. Then all went quiet, and we figured it was over. As we prepared for the long ride home, I still held out hope. One bait in the water. The fish had robbed our baits, and seen another dead shark. I was sure that I had been schooled by the Purple Shark Godz. Then the 50W boiled, and I stuck her like I meant it. The fish screamed drag and we all cheered. After a brief showing at the surface, she sounded still screaming drag. A few minutes like this and she was gone. Again biting clean through the heavy cable. We had used up our camera storage by now, so the memories of this fish will exist only in my mind. Perhaps like they should. Like back in the day. Quite the escape artist, and reminding us that we are only puny humans, she left us in awe. We got underway, with giant grins. We had not completed our Sat tag mission, but both Todds had caught their first Mako, and Moose and I were content in the fact that we had turned our luck around. A great day to be alive my friends...