West coast 2- nine footers and four other sharks Oct-2008

We're on a roll here we just put together a combined effort and had a great shark fishing trip . A total of 6 sharks were caught in less then 24 hours including two that went 9 foot each.
It was fun to get back to the west coast of Florida to wet a line with good friends.We got on the road right after Jimbo got out work on monday afternoon- him in his nissan pick up and me in my toyota pick up.This was the usual routine for Jimbo to pack his truck with gear right after work on monday since he has Tuesday,Wednesday and Thursday off work.Jimbo retains the enthusiasm of a young kid when it comes to his fishing, he can't wait to get out there.So we head out west to Tampa pick up the up and coming rookie Aaron and then we head over to another friends house(Solliman) to have a bar b q and get some rest for the next day's hardcore marathon of bridge fishing. On the way to our spot we stop in St Pete and load up the livewell with pinfish to entice the snook,grouper,snapper,tarpon etc.So we get to our destination around 11 am onload and start walking our gear out to the spot we want to fish.The afternoon sun was beaming down mighty hot on us we start letting our shark rods out in the current (outgoing tide)with fresh fresh cownose rays that Aaron is snagging next to the bridge.Aaron is the new recruit that Jimbo is putting through "shark fishing boot camp" and i can't say enough about this 16 year old dynamo of young man,,,,,he's respectful,he listens and observes and puts into practice all that the older guys are teaching him.This young man never tires,is quick and knows what needs to be done and gets it done.You will see alot more Aaron in the Florida shark fishing scene in the future.Large schools of cownose ray come under the bridge most of the day but just in case i've brought some bonita from my freezer.I start thinking it's a slow day when all of sudden at slack tide Aaron who is fishing almost in the middle of the bridge by the channel gets hooked up. The shark starts to cut fast and Aaron follows him and works him like a veteran,,,the shark is fast but Aaron is right on top of him and when he tries to dive under the bridge the apprentice again has learned well and turns his head just in time.The shark struggles and tries a few more times to go under but every time Aaron prevails.We walk him down to the end of the bridge take a few pics and quickly release the five and a half foot black tip shark.Next one to get hit on a half cownose ray Solliman gets his shark on and it's blasting out of the water in an atempt to throw the hooks,Solliman makes quick work of the black tip ,walks him down to the end for a quick release.Now i'm thinking this is gonna be a great day of shark fishing,,, back to back bt's it can only get better as it gets closer to nightfall.We're staying busy in between our shark hits we are jigging trying for snook or snagging a few rays to have back up bait for our 16/0,and 3 -14/0s.Later that afternoon right before sundown i get a nice slow hit,i set up and it charges the bridge like a jewfish trying to go into his cave .I put the brakes to him and he takes off away from the bridge and we are almost convinced it's gonna be a jewfish .I work him in towards the bridge and by now it is dark and the fish is thrashiing on top but we can't see what it is yet.Then i see in the splash right next to my fish a big boil and i start yelling that it looks like a huge hammerhead.Things are starting to happen real quick now -it's slack tide again and right then Jimbo's 14/0 that's right in front of where i think i saw the hammmer get's picked up ,he slams the reel in gear and the supposed hammer starts going under the bridge and Jimbo can't stop him so he puts the reel in free spool and instructs Aaron to go to the other side of the bridge gaff his line and bring it up so we can try to catch the shark on that side.Meanwhile i'm still fighting my fish while this is going on ,,,i tell Solliman to come sit on my 14/0 rod so i can help Jd with the hammer that has him down to half a spool on the opposite side of the bridge.Solliman looks down after taking my rod and tells me my shark is a lemon not a jewfish,,OK.We have Jimbo's line in hand and it's still hauling ass away from the bridge Jimbo who now has his line in his hands is trying to stop him bare handed without gloves so we can cut the line, tie a quick blood knot and fight him with the 14/0 on that side .At this point expierience makes the whole world of difference as to whether we catch this shark or not.So Jd stops the shark with his bare hands at this point i get next to him making sure the shark is tired and that we have enough line on the floor to do the tie in(blood knot).At the moment you cut the line the shark can not be taking offf or you will be screwed.Jimbo gives the go ahead to cut the line ,the 14/0 is quickly brought over from the other side of the bridge, i quickly tie the end of line coming out of his 14/0 to the end of the line that Jimbo is fighting the shark on.DONE!!!Jimbo grabs the rod in his hands and just in time because the shark has got it's second wind and is taking off again.The battle goes on and Jimbo is gaining all the lost line that is coming into the reel frayed up from rubbing beneath the bridge.So he fights him on medium drag now because the veteran knows that frayed line means reduce your pressure or risk popping off your shark.We get him up next to the bridge and by now i knew it was not a big hammer by the lack of full blown speed the hammers typically display.Big Lemon and Jd and i get him to the end of the bridge,we measure him 8 ft 11.5 inches and we send Aaron to Jd's truck for his camera since mine had dead batteries by then.Aaron on the way to the truck finds Solliman who is still on my lemon shark trying to walk the shark to the end of the bridge by himself but the current changed and is dragging the shark under the bridge so Aaron helps him and they release the 7 foot lemon.Aaron was taking a long time getting back with the camera so we were lucky to squeeze two more pics out of my camera and quickly released the pissed off lemon.After all that commotion we took a break, drank a few cold beers and ate a pizza.We sat around and talked about how crazy it got in the heat of battle with that big lemon but we were proud of our team work and the positive results we got and no one was hurt.We also talked about how great it was to be out here with friends doing what we enjoy best,,,catching sharks.The rest of the night was good for a couple more sharks including the other 9 foot lemon the old boy catches, and 1 keeper snook Jd caught on my spinner ,,lol.At 4 am the drizzle started and we figured we better call it quits before the big stuff starts wetting our tired bones.A big cup of coffee and we're on the road again homeward bound.Tired but very, very content. We had a great time.Can't wait to do it again.

St Pete getting pinfish for the livewell

The Skyway fishing pier

What a beautiful place to fish

Aaron on the first hook up of the day

The apprentice(Aaron) hard at work on a tipper

Bullet nosed black tipped spinner shark,,,,,HUh

Solliman with his black tip

Thrashing black tip

Fresh cow nosed ray for bait

Full moon hookup

Another black tip shark

Chilling right before sundown

Jd's 8 ft 11 and half inch lemon

Same shark different angle

Jd's 9 foot lemon