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| 'First 2006 Trip Hat Trick' |
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Finally
-- the cold fronts cooperated to stay off our back during the weekend
and we made it out. It's a trip that almost didn't happen, but we're
glad it did. Baits of choice this day were mullet and ladyfish.
The score in the end was ladyfish 2 and mullet 1, for those interested.
Baits were dunked between 150 and 300 yards off the sand on a Penn
spread of 4, 6, 9 and 12/0's. The tide was incoming for the duration
with windy, but manageable conditions. Water temps in the low 70's
and no weed or red tide to speak of -- pretty much a Chamber of
Commerce kind of day. We've got some more pics, but here's the money
shots and important details. |
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One
more pic for the road... |
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Next
in our countdown is Sean with something... |
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I
didn't know it at the time, but I would win the petite category
with this 5'7" (TL) female sandbar. |
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Jeff
Knox on the right would put the exclamation point on our day with
this 6'3" (TL) female sandbar. |
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All
fish, including Jeff's little lady were landed, tagged and released
in excellent condition. |
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We
spread it around today -- nearly everyone got a fish on a variety
of baits, more tags placed at liberty -- smiles all around. |
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If
you look close in the center of the shot, you'll see her dorsal
and tail tips heading back home to eat and make some babies. |
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It's
not just the teeth you've gotta worry about... |
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It
doesn't look like much, but I'm fightin' off a major infection from
this belly burn off Dave's 1st fish of the day -- incurred while
getting a girth measurement. So, you've got the teeth, you've got
the tail and you've gotta watch out for the rash while you're at
it. |
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So effective, those dermal denticles (countless little teeth that make up a shark's skin), they're using the design in olympic swimsuits to maximize aqua dynamic efficiency. Like most of us, I've had plenty of brush burns from shark hide over the years, but the problems I'm having with this one are my fault for not being more aware and treating it in a timely manner. It happened when I was passing the tape for a girth measurement at the same time the fish rolled and gave me a nice, quick, side to side wiggle while my hand was under her -- you know the one. Anyway, as timing would have it, the combination of weight, and my hand moving in the opposite direction as her body...and there you have it. However, I didn't realize the depth of the rub until at least an hour later -- didn't even feel it at the time it happened. I thought the blood on my hand was from the fish. Almost immediately after releasing her, we had another pickup / fight / release before I realized it was my red juice. Even then, you know how brush burns can be, it didn't look so bad. I cleaned it, sprayed it with some antibiotic and went on about the day. It was that hour or so untreated with the normal bacteria from the fish, the saltwater and other assorted bait juice, etc. doing it's thing that's giving me the trouble now with some localized infection. I'm hoping to save a trip to the doc, but if it doesn't improve by tomorrow, I'll have to go pay for a z-pack and maybe some dead skin removal. Anything to get me back out there this weekend. Fortunately, every trip is a learning experience. This one was no different. Nonetheless, it beats a red-hot poker in the eye. I don't know about you, but these instances always make me think about survival situations / scenarios where you might make it through a plane crash or some type of stranding largely intact. BUT for that 'minor' wound you don't even notice till you calm down hours later. You can't believe you're alive. Then, a few days later, while you're working on your signal fire and cooking some mussels you picked out of the tide pool, you notice that burning sensation emanating from the area around that little brush burn on your hand. Then you observe and accept the swelling...and I'll be damned...is that a little red line running up my arm...? Fortunately, there was a Mickey D's and an emergency room within a 10-minute drive if we needed, and it was a great trip -- the first one of the 2006 season. For now, it looks like a good sign of things to come. We haven't had a multiple shark trip in a while. The water temps are getting into the low '70's and winds are beginning to switch out of the east. For now, zero indications of red tide and the h'cane season is still months away. On top off that, we'll start seeing more species variety any time now. Sounds damn good to us. Cheers
& Tight Lines, Written
By: Sean Paxton
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