The Beaches of Cheyenne report 07-12

This trip started with a trio of midwensterners converging at the coast bleary eyed from the long drive. The cast of characters included Bauer, thee 22 y.o. corn-fed giant from Iowa.

Bauer has to be my pic of all possible folks to go into the water after my fish
Bauer brought along his Buddy Nate (aka Doofie). This was Nate’s first shark fishing trip, in fact, it was his first time fishing the salt. What Nate lacked in experience he made up for in fashion sense and meteorological prowess.


Nate would stick his head out of his tent-cot like a groundhog multiple times to assess the weather. He would frequently retreat.
Myself, once again the “old guy” on the trip. As usual I took up the least space but came equipped with an EZ up and ribs to share.



I made town a day early and scrounged starter bait from various sources, also got a night of sleep under my belt. We made the beach and got set up for a slow night with just a few runs. We had some steaks and got some rest. Bauer apparently needed it as we woke to find his 16/0 about 200 yds. shy of line. He reeled in a tired 6’ bull which he had inadvertently been free-lining for part of the night. This guy seemed a little tired so we got him on his way without a photo shoot. He was hooked in the mouth and swam off fine.
We also caught a couple of legal specs. Which made a great breakfast!!

Monday night we hit our stride and saw some decent action. We also started to get a taste of the weather that would visit us frequently throughout the trip. It was not terribly hot but we were treated to multiple pop-up storms, sometimes accompanied by high winds. Bauer and I each scored a nice BT. His succumbed readily to the 16/0. Mine was way out there and pulled for a minute even on the 80W


I also landed a 6 + Bull which was a step in the right direction.

Tuesday we worked hard to keep the bait rods deployed catching a mix of sharpnose and gaff tops. We ate a lot of gaff top on this trip and did not mind it a bit. Early evening Bauer hooked up with a solid fish. After a brief struggle we were impressed with this 8,1 Bull, real nice fish and Bauer’s biggest bull to date. I should have posed with it since Bauer makes most fish look like a BT!


Just a bit later we began to see signs we were in for some real weather. We watched the fireworks of a major lightning storm work it’s way closer, accompanied by 40 mph or so winds. Having too much stuff on the beach and nowhere to really go we anchored everything as well as we could and took down the EZ up. One of my tent poles snapped as we were trying to get it anchored as the wind hit. I managed to mend it with some PVC just before the storm hit. We also dug a hole we could throw the yak over if need be.

Predictably just as we got hunkered down and SHTF off goes my rod alarm! Bauer and I emerged from our shelters long enough to land a 7 ½ ish lemon, cut the hook and release the fish. My camera was not going out in that stuff so we called it good. At this point Bauer and I waited out the storm sitting in my leaky tent drinking rum and hoping for a good outcome.
Wednesday we were greeted by some nicer weather and nice flat surf. Nate made his first outing in the Yak, a totally new experience for him. He did real well and got his bait out. I hooked up another 6’+ bull and was glad to see us back in the action.

A few hours later another run, this time on my recently acquired Avet 50W. The 50W was on my Bone Island Rods “Procinctu”. I was reminded how much I love this rod as I recognized that this was a heavier fish. It took close to 200 yards initially then switched to bulldog mode. The fish would come a ways in low gear then just drop anchor. The 50W/Procinctu combo carried the day eventually as Bauer and Nate roped this 8,7’ Bull for me. I was amazed at the girth of this fish and got the jitters a little as I climbed aboard for a $-shot/ de-hooking.




Thursday night Nate’s time finally came. He had a couple fish get off and you could tell he was really itching to put one on the sand. Nate was fishing my 900H with 100# braid and topped with mono. He did a good job fighting his first fish with some coaching. His first ever “shark on the sand”, BTW, was a 7,8’ tiger!!! Bauer and I tried our best to impress upon him just what a lucky SOB he was as he later said stuff like “that was cool, now I want to catch a bull”!!


We did our best to initiate Nate with the usual hazing and testing. The bugs were horrible so our planned snipe hunt in the dunes was cancelled. We did seize the opportunity to test him when he left camp for a bit. I quickly dug through my kit for my “horrify new guy secret weapon”, the dreaded Borat inspired mankini. Bauer tried to capture his expression but he had shades on. You could definitely see “OMG, I’m stuck on the beach with these freaks” all over him. He took it well as Bauer and I shifted from playing it casual to cracking up. Sorry, no fight pics in the mankini, shortly thereafter Bauer begged me to change!!

Another phase of Nate’s initiation:

Later that night Spencer was treated to some of the bittersweet. He hooked up an absolute freight train! This fish took several hundred yards of line under heavy drag after the sort of slow halting bite we all look forward to. This was, as he said, the fish he was looking for. It came off somehow and left us all deflated but motivated at the same time “they are here”.
Later yet, around 3 AM or so, I was wakened by another run. This one about a 5 1/2’ BT which we dealt with quickly before getting back to sleep.

Friday was our last day. I had come on this trip determined and equipped to beach my first tarpon. My chance came as I was chatting with a friendly tourist who had stopped by. I had yakked a good sized mullet head on my Fin-Nor OFS-4500 full of braid. As we talked the rod doubled over and the reel sang such that it scared the hell out of my new friend. The surface exploded about 175 yards out and there was my silver flash! The fish was on for a bit but, in short, I blew it… New to the reel, I think I just tightened up too much and pop goes the braid, ugh!!!

Later, in the evening, I got a decent run and found myself hooked up again. After a short fight we were happy to behold yet another tiger, this one smaller at 6,8”. They are such beautiful fish, I feel lucky every time I lay eyes on one. This one swam off strong to grow up.

Nate saw much action on our last night. He hooked up monsters twice on the 900H. Both fights were impressive and both ended about the same way. I shot some video of the first fight as the spool got smaller, and smaller…. Nate eventually turned this fish and had it within 200 yards of the beach when the line got cut on something. He had a lot in this fight which ended with a resounding, almost slow motion nooooo…… He did the right things at the right time. We tried to explain that experiences like this are the other edge of the sword. Without that other edge the entire pursuit would not be what it is. If it was easy, or simple, everybody would do it and that would truly suck!

This was a trip I will always remember for a number of reasons. It was a pleasure to fish with my friend Spencer again and to meet a new friend. I wish I could list all of the little challenges or difficulties we met and overcame throughout our endeavor. It was a truly awesome trip!!!
Chris