Thanksgiving- Double Header Bulls

Well the holiday was fast approaching and it was going to be a short week,the weather was beautiful but a cold front was supposed to be moving in by Wednesday so we knew our window to fish before the cold front was small.Most of the guys of the South Florida Shark Club don't much worry about what time of the year it is, but rather look at the weather to determine if the bite is gonna be on or not.In the winter time we watch for spells in between the cold snaps that indicates a prime opputunity to get into the sharks.With that in mind we decided to meet at the bridge starting Monday afternoon when Jimbo would head down after work with son Jimmy and the young apprentice Aaron to fish Channel 2 and the seven mile bridge. The first night Jd and the boys fished ch 2 and they had no shark hits but caught some keeper eating fish. I was to head out monday afternoon but instead headed out Tuesday after work.Luis Iglesias left for channel 2 early Tuesday morning but the report from him was that some mackeral and yellow jacks was the only action he was getting on that bridge.Since Lui was going home before nightfall i decided to hook up with the Jimbo and the boys who were allready at the seven miler and fish till Wednesday afternoon with them.By the time i got out to the bridge the boys were into the fish having allready caught a 32 and half inch snook,two Goliath the biggest about 12 lbs,and assorted mix of jacks and small mangrove snappers.By the time i unloaded my gear from my cart the sun was heading for the horizion and i hurried and set up my snapper and shark rods.I put out my 14/0 with the only shark bait i had a frozen 2 lb yellow jack i took out of my freezer.I butterfied the 2 lb jack and balloned it away from the bridge into the Gulf.After setting out my shark rod i put out a small grunt on my Penn 750 spinner and caught a 17 inch mutton snapper while Jimmy and Aaron fished the pilings looking for that big mangrove snapper.Before sundown i pulled out the coleman stove and prepared to fix the guys a supper to lift there spirits because no sharks had taken a bait since the night before.As i was getting ready to start the stove i pulled out the video camera to film the beatiful sunset and the beautiful sight before us.I walked to Jimbo video camera in hand and asked for predictions on the shark bite that night and he said "snappers tonight- no sharks" i started laughing because i was more optimistic and less tired then he.Before i was able to put the video camera down the old throaty 14/0 takes off in a medium speed and i hand the video camera still on and recording the whole scene to Jimmy.The boys and i are now laughing out loud at Jd for his wrong prediction as i set up i felt the bait and not a shark so i set it back down and waited.Next up was Jimbo getting a hit on the 14/0 with Aarons newly wrapped 11 foot shark rod.As often happens before the sun was completely down the shark action got hot.Jimbo's bait was the carcass of a 5 lb yellow jack whose fillets i was gonna cook for dinner.So Jimbo sets up and it's going sideways and pulling some drag and Jd is working him like the pro he is ,,,,,back right ,then back left ,,,,it's a bull about seven feet Jimmy cries out.So then my 14/0 which still had bait on it gets a hit and it takes off the moment i set up,this shark is bigger and pulling more drag then Jimbo's ,,,so i had to go over Jimbo as my shark is heading left fast,and then i have to go back to the right and back over Jd whom allready has his bull shark straight down and soundly beaten.I continue to fight the shark and he is playing tug a war with me and i'm thinking another bull shark by the way he's fighting and soon he comes into view and again a bull shark bigger then the first and trying to swim under on me.So now we have double header bull sharks a male (mine) and a female his and we are both starting to realize we gotta walk down both bulls and get some nice pics of this rare double shot of bull shark,,,,probably mates we think.Jimbo gives the rod to Aaron who is more then willing to drag and coerce the bull the almost half mile to the end of the bridge.So we start our walk Aaron is allready 200 feet ahead of me easily leading the smaller female to the the seawall for pics and release.JD follows flashlight,measuring tape and wire cutters in hand as we head down to the end.My bull is an aggesive male bull that is stubborn to the max ,four or five times we have to stop and work back out to the right towards the end because my shark keeps on turning and swimming towards the channel as we approach the flats.I'm huffing and puffing and thinking i better lose the 15 lbs i need to soon before March and April of 2009 because if a less then 8 foot bull is doing me like this a big hammer will destroy me . Got to lose that weight and start doing more cardio in the gym,,,,wrong time of the year for dieting i'm thinking.Anyway we get down to the end and some friends are just arriving and lend us a hand with the two bulls so we take our pics, measure them both, release the two sharks and head back to see if we can finnaly eat our hot dinner before it gets too late.Jimbo who's been called in to work the following day leaves with his son Jimmy and Aaron and i stay the rest of the night on the bridge.That night we caught a few nice mangroves and the next morning we catch a few crevalles that we keep for next trip.Overall it was a good fishing trip spent with good friends.

Mark with a jack on a jig.

Jimmy with a Goliath

Jimmy with a keeper black grouper.

Aaron with a big yellow jack.

Lui's 32 inch snook

Jimbo's almost 33 inch snook

My keeper mutton snapper

What a beautiful sunset

Our camp

Jimbo gets hooked up

The first bull bridge side

Will fighting his shark

Walking the male bull to the end

Aaron and i with both bull sharks at the bottom of the seawall.

A close up

Jimbo's female on the left and my male on the right just before cutting them loose.

The mangroves were biting

Next morning freelined a big crevalle without any luck.