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| 'Late Season Run' |
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After
the trip on Thanksgiving weekend 6 days prior, we were feeling teased.
So working on location info gathered from previous boat trips with
Captain Jim, we scouted a spot further to the south known as 'the
lumps'. It's a place notorious for a shark population supported
by bottom structure features like drop offs and ledges that hold
food. Earlier in the year, we had fished them from 'The Bayview',
but at that time, we were knee-deep in the red tide and jacuzzi-like
water temperatures in the 90's. Although, those factors resulted
in plenty of fishing, but no catching, my memories of the readings
displayed on Jim's depth finder were vivid. Drop offs between the
bars ranging from 5 - 10 feet with some of them gradual and others
more pronounced stretched north to south. The best part of all is
they were well within reach of a brisk paddle from the beach. |
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| This is just the kind of place where a variety of shark species including bulls, lemons, hammers, sandbars, and even the occasional tiger could make a decent living. Conditions had improved dramatically since the summer season so we were eager to stop by and see how business was going. With conditions nearly identical the day before our planned expedition, we scouted the area and were pleased with the findings, as demonstrated below. | ||||||
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Looking
south |
Shark
country |
Looking
north |
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All
we needed to see. 24 hours and counting. Time to prepare... |
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The
trip last week had us good and ready, but JD (middle) wanted to
run a double-check |
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From
left to right: Big Bertha, Brooks II, Sean, Eric, Capt. Jim |
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| It
seems we always need a few last-minute items on our way to the hunting
grounds. So a stop by our local land-based shark fishing outfitter,
Cook's Sportland is always time well spent. Eric, Malcom, Captain
Jim and the rest of the gang there take great care of us and have
everything we need to play our game. If you're ever in the Venice
area, be sure and stop in.
On this day, a very special guest would be joining us in the festivities. Jim thought our luck might get an extra boost if none other than 'Big Bertha' graced us with her presence. That's right. The same custom rod and Penn 12/0 that has been with Jim for over 30 years. The rig that has bested many a beast over the years was suited up and ready for action. We were honored to have her in the spread and she was eager to do the deed. As always, thanks to our friends at Cook's and a special thanks to Malcom for the mullet. They would be put to good use... |
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Home
away from home |
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As
expected, the beach looked great when we arrived, as we voiced those
really good feelings you get sometimes about a trip. So much so
that on the drive over, Brooks gave it the rarely issued 'BPG'.
The 'Brooks Paxton Guarantee', that is. It's something special reserved
for key football games and fishing trips, but not often used because
of the jinx factor. Every now and then, though, it just feels right.
To top off the positive expectations, Jim told us earlier at Cook's
that several catches in the 7' - 8' range had been reported from
the Venice Pier that morning on ladyfish during the first high tide.
This was later verified by club member, and avid pier sharker, Jeff
Knox. The music to our ears grew louder since we had 3 or 4 nice
ladies in the cooler that he had donated to the cause. Once camp
was set, we got busy rigging and preparing to drop ladies on two
Penn 12's, including Bertha, and the 9. We'd stagger 'em between
200 and 400 yards out to cover the the varying depths of the lumps.
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Ahh...now
that's what we're talkin' about |
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Around
9pm, one of the 12's goes off and it's a nice steady run. Brooks
harnesses up, takes the driver's seat, eases up on the drag, and
hammers back on the rod doing his best to cross the fish's eyes.
It proceeds to pull him hard to the south and west with some occasional
head shakes. Brooks says and Jim agrees, it feels like a decent
fish. I didn't argue. After a several minutes of excitement, Brooks
says it's not moving -- just sitting there -- dead weight. The first
assumption was the fish was probably still outside the second bar
and nosing into the far side to avoid capture. So we initiated the
'up and over' technique of easing up on the drag in an attempt to
get the fish to back off the bar, hopefully kicking in the instinct
to start moving again. When it works, the angler is given a chance
to then pull the fish over the bar and and resume the battle. Brooks
tried several times with no success even walking a good ways south
to get a straight angle. After a while longer, the realization sunk
in that we were probably wrapped on an obstruction. After nearly
30 minutes it was a collective heart breaker. A decision was made
to walk back to camp, ease up on the drag, put the rod up and see
if a new run might somehow materialize. We still had the other baits
out and they needed to be hot-swapped. I had also begun considering
the option of following the snagged line out to see if it could
be freed -- always a good way to get the blood flowing.
So
we got a nice chunk of bonita and a whole one double rigged and
I suited up to swap them out and see if I could get the 12/0 freed
up on the way in. There's nothing like losing a pefectly good rig
and a bait to a snag. And definitely nothing like following that
line up to the leader in the dark knowing something of size was
attached to the other end...and might even still be there. It's
not recommended you try this at home because the possibility exists
the fish could still be on and hot if it had managed to stay head
into the current after wrapping up. Or, it may be incapacitated
or even drowned. All these scenarios run through your head simultaneously
while you're tracing the line, then the snap swivel runs through
your fingers and you're up to the leader. At this point, you're
about 25 feet from whatever may or may not be on the other end and
you're barely holding on -- ready to let go the instant you feel
any movement. I had done this another time under almost exact
circumstances, and for just a moment on both occasions, I got a
flashback of Ben Gardner's head popping out and scaring the crap
out of me. Brooks and Jim had the drag backed all the way off
as I quietly moved directly over the point of contact. With the
leader heading straight down into the blackness, I radioed in to
double check the drag setting one more time. Then, pulled ever so
slightly guiding the kayak just past the straight up and down point
when...it popped free. I could feel the weight and maybe even the
bait on the other end. I radioed Brooks to crank in the remaining
200 or so yards and paddled back to see what we had. Amazingly,
the bait was only slightly mangled, but still intact. We gave up
trying to figure it out and were happy to have the leader back.
Captain Jim swiftly tied up the last bonita and I dropped it short.
We had the full spread back and it was time to get warm and dry
and back to the waiting game. |
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Around
1:15am, Brooks says, "I'm not asking for much. I just want
to catch a shark bigger than me". He was hot about that tangle
with the mystery meat earlier and wanted some action. It's funny,
the timing of a strike sometimes, but just after he said that, the
9/0 on the 15' Ugly Stick goes off and it's not stopping. It looked
like his date had finally arrived.
And it had. After two initial strong runs, Brooks turned it towards
the beach and about 15 minutes later, Jim spotted her in the wade
gut. As soon as he hit her with the spotlight, the large dorsal
fin confirmed the identity of a sandbar shark. Brooks and Jim
timed it just right and rode her up on a breaking wave and onto
the sand. The hookset was solid with the sliding (forward) J hook
going almost perfectly through the bottom lip, around the jaw
and out the bottom. Like Jim said, there was no way that hook
was coming out -- except with a pair of pliers. After verifying
it as a female, taking some measurements and photographs, then
placing a National Marine Fisheries Service tag below the dorsal,
Brooks took her for a walk in the surf where she released in excellent
condition. The team worked perfectly together. Brooks got his
first nice fish of the season, and our drought was officially
over. |
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Time
for a quick pit-stop |
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No
claspers here making this one healthy female sandbar shark |
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National
Marine Fisheries Service - Tag #287451 is 'At Liberty' |
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First
sandbar |
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Brooks
breaks the dry spell |
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We kept the other two lines in the water until about 3am with no further action when we finally decided to start breaking down camp. This part of a trip is always easier to bear after a successful catch and release, especially when it's been as long as it has for the club. Congratulations, Brooks; a beautiful fish and another great time on the sand for all of us. |
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