So, Tom's near shark sighting and water conditions report inspired me to give the surf a try last night. I hit up the A.O. at 7pm with plenty of light left. I knew it would be busy with people, but I wanted to setup with light for a change. When I arrived the conditions were ideal, small 2-3 foot waves and
Salad Free. Once everyone took their sunset picture the few grommets in the water got out by 7:50pm. I had fresh macs from that mornings trip to the bay. I was feeling good about tonight and I wanted to try out my new backpack. (Mostly to take on boat rides, but I wanted see how it felt on a walk to the beach)
I put my bait in the water by 8pm and a boy comes over and asks, "How do you know you have a bite?". I tell him when the clicker starts to scream and the rod bends over then you know it's the right kind. He stands there watching the rod for five minutes and says that my rod tip is bouncing. I tell him those are critter bites and not what I'm after, but then the tip goes down for a good 1-2 seconds. I take the rod off the holder and tighten the drag, I wait to see if the fish is gonna make another pass, then the fish takes off with the bait. I put my thumb on the spool and set the hook. I feel the weight on the line and can tell it's not a big fish, but I also feel head shakes too. There is still a little light in the sky and I see the fish go airborne a couple of times in the white water but I couldn't make out what type of shark it was. The boy standing next to me calls his buddies over and I have three boys following me down the beach giving me encouragement.
After a couple of minutes, I time the next wave and walk this fish back onto the sand. I jokingly tell one of the boys to tail grab this shark.
None of them volunteer, so I drag this 55" leo onto the hard pack.
The boys were excited to see a shark and I was glad to see some action again. Did I mention there was no salad in the water.
As soon as it got dark the full moon started to rise and light up the beach like a spot light. I really didn't even need a headlamp last night. The next bait I threw into the water was picked clean, by lobsters. The bugs were out in force last night with everything getting picked clean within 5-10 minutes of hitting the water. I called it at 10pm without any other grinners. The water seemed cooler to me then it has been, so I'm hoping the sharks will make a return to the shore.
Good luck out there guys!
