Been on a 'losing nice fish' streak for a few months now. 1 soup for 7 hookups ... frustrating.
Paul and I ventured to an old spot Tuesday night and found a fishable zone (somewhat weed free) after a bit of a hike. Tide was low and the waves were bigger than forecasted, but manageable.
We both get a shot on consecutive rips but the bait was dropped each time. Possitive it was the same shark, and even had visual confirmation when it breached running after my bait. Pretty cool to see 30yrds from dry sand.
Ended up extending the steak to 1 for 8 now.
Forecast conditions for Wednesday night were even better so went back to give that spot another shot. 1-2ft seas, mellow winds, light overcast and the Solunar Calendar said we would catch fish.
Some weeds to deal with but all in all the water was nice. Plus we had some of this -
Right around sunset cast out a new bait and tell Paul I needed to hike back to the car and grab my headlamp
. Hate it when the little things are missed especially when a decent walk is involved.
Just as I head off Paul says "dude, your rod just bounced". Sure enough turn around to see it load up and take off with the clicker singing.
Left, right, front, back ... this fish had me dancing. Great fight lots of runs. Finally subdued and roped.
Taped to 71", female, caught on Mac tail, Incoming tide.
An hour passes with a few bumpes here and there. We bought extra bait and chummed the surf line pretty hard.
Again my clicker starts to go and I'm on fish #2. The shark made a run straight out, but overall an easier fight this time around. Never really got into my spectra backing much.
Roped, beached, measure and photo.
73" female, caught on Mac tail
Stoked, but feel pretty worked after that fight. The tail slaps put a good chafe and knick in my 80lb leader so sat back, relaxed, and retied. Took the opportunity to have some of Paul's special moonshine
Really want Paul to hook up as we're getting close to the five minute warning, but tonight wasn't his night.
Rig up one last tail to soak as we gather up camp.
About 5 minutes later my clicker goes nuts again.
This shark was intent on reaching deep water and dumped half my spool on the initial run alone.
Gain ground then off it went again. pissed off shark!
Thought it was a big one ... but when it reached the skinny, looked about the same as the first two.
71" female, Mac tail, mid-incoming tide
Packed up and headed home.
3 for 3 on the soups moves that batting average up a bit. Probably still farmer status though. Super stoked, even a bit sore today LOL ...
Hope you guys find some!
Tight Lines~
~WMB
