Steven (treecatcher) hit me up to do some grinner fishing and he had some fresh a$$ mack bait he was willing to share with me, how can I say no? On the sand by 10:30pm. Greeted to what looks like pretty sweet conditions with the tide a little over an hour from coming back in. First mack head gets hammered within minutes by a sub 30" bat and the skunk is officially off!
(http://www.photos.inherentlydifferent.com/_data/i/upload/2018/06/21/20180621080732-8a72cd61-la.jpg)
And then the salad rolls in deep! 5 casts, 5 extremely large clumps of salad. Mostly broken up surf grass and ribbon kelp. A major nuisance, but not yet a deal breaker since there was little to no current. It was fairly easy to reel in the clumps. Decided to make a slight move south to see if it would and Steven stayed put. At this point, the tide started to roll in and I get my first knock down. Line goes slack and I quickly reel in and come tight. Immediate breach and blistering runs gave it away. Steven played the role of Josh last night and I get my first soupie of the night. 69" female on mackerel.
(http://www.photos.inherentlydifferent.com/_data/i/upload/2018/06/21/20180621080711-94e66683-la.jpg)
Re-bait and I get back to reeling more clumps, but it is starting to minimize. The tidal push has slowed a bit as the action has slowed considerably. Then I get my first reef roach of the year hidden in of the clumps. And, she was with child... er... children.
(http://www.photos.inherentlydifferent.com/_data/i/upload/2018/06/21/20180621080650-487677e5-la.jpg)
(http://www.photos.inherentlydifferent.com/_data/i/upload/2018/06/21/20180621080752-593b10e3-la.jpg)
I notice the waves are more frequent and a slight larger in size from the ankle slappers that greeted us when we first arrived. That's when I tell Steven to move near me and +get a bait in the water ASAP as the tide is starting to make another push and the bite should pick up pretty quick. Not too long after, I get a ripper of run and once I sent the hook home I see what is hopefully my 2nd soup go airborne! Steven rushes over lend a sandy hand. As I'm fighting my fish, I glance over at his rod and his totally doubled, no, tripled over!! Called it!! Double hookup!! I solo land another 69", take some terrible pics and a quick measurement so I can do a quick release and help out Steven.
(http://www.photos.inherentlydifferent.com/_data/i/upload/2018/06/21/20180621080600-3748807a-la.jpg)
(http://www.photos.inherentlydifferent.com/_data/i/upload/2018/06/21/20180621080535-c032bdbc-la.jpg)
I rush down Steven's way and I find him the dark struggling with a reel that now has a busted AR bearing :o Damnit!! I hate equipment failures when you're hooked up. He proceeds to hand-line his grinner as reel in the slack. Was hoping for 3 soupie night, but it turned out to be a very respectable 53.5" leopard shark.
(http://www.photos.inherentlydifferent.com/_data/i/upload/2018/06/21/20180621080511-5f870acd-la.jpg)
(http://www.photos.inherentlydifferent.com/_data/i/upload/2018/06/21/20180621080446-82be8bd7-la.jpg)
(http://www.photos.inherentlydifferent.com/_data/i/upload/2018/06/21/20180621022851-eb9c3185-la.jpg)
Unfortunately, his reel is toast and I surprisingly didn't have a back up reel in my pack to loan him. He offered to hang out while I continue to fish, but I called it on a high note. I gave him the spiel about getting a reel that doesn't just rely on an AR bearing and always bring a back up reel. We'll have to remedy that. Will have to check the man cave and see what I got for him. Great night fishing with a new fishing buddy. Not sure I'll ever be getting any more sleep now ;)
Plink... plink...
Damn Mike, you're killing me here. Every time I think I'm done with the long rod for the year I read one of your reports...............................gotta check the tides 8)
You are killing me Mike! Every time I think about targeting other species, you go on a hot streak and make me want to head out surf shark fishing. Grrrrr!!!! hahahaha
Congrats Boss! You are en fuego!!!
That's exactly why I wanted to go out. Saw mikes post and immediately I wanted to get back into shark fishing. Next time around, we'll definitely be more prepared. Great night and I'm glad we were both able to hook onto some sharks by the end! Anyone need Mack's, hit me up! Lol.
Ugh.
Congrats anyway.
: Treecatcher June 21, 2018, 02:06:12 p
That's exactly why I wanted to go out. Saw mikes post and immediately I wanted to get back into shark fishing. Next time around, we'll definitely be more prepared. Great night and I'm glad we were both able to hook onto some sharks by the end! Anyone need Mack's, hit me up! Lol.
Stop trying to give those away, that's currency in my book!
: vdisney June 21, 2018, 12:32:33 p
Damn Mike, you're killing me here. Every time I think I'm done with the long rod for the year I read one of your reports...............................gotta check the tides 8)
Gotta get 'em before the warm forces them out of reach of my casts!
: Latimeria June 21, 2018, 01:25:21 p
You are killing me Mike! Every time I think about targeting other species, you go on a hot streak and make me want to head out surf shark fishing. Grrrrr!!!! hahahaha
Congrats Boss! You are en fuego!!!
You'll be out on the Mako in no time and leaving the surf scraps to us landlocked guys!
Right on Mike! Keep the streak alive!
No one likes Mike. ;) Especially surf sharks!
Wow, Congrats! You are da man!