VC Grinner!

[TheCraftsman]

All the hard research, recon and time soaking bait finally paid off! Been on a mission to land one of these fellas for a while now!
Ive been telling my ol' lady since Wed that conditions were gonna be perfect this weekend and we were going fishing. Driving out there i was telling her that I had a good feeling that tonight was the night.  We got to the AO just as last bit of light was fading out and set up shop. Conditions were primo! Didnt take long before getting bites on the light rod/squid setup... Started the night off the smallest SNFG ive seen at about 12"....

Then we got to see the crazy "fireball" in the sky. I think we were right underneath it and it was awesome... There was also probably about dozen shooting stars... Again I told my ol lady, good signs, we're gonna get one tonight...

Shortly after finally got one of the little bites to land and was officially my first grinner... Albeit a mini-grinner baby soupie, but I was still pretty happy it wasn't a SNFG! It was good to know they were out there.


A short while later the clicker sounds on the heavy! Got my heart going as i havent heard that sound in a good while! Sprang right into action... Hook set.. Fish on!

I was hoping it was a shark, but i wasnt sure, it was making long heavy runs and I thought it felt like a big bat ray... Took me about 10-15 minutes before my heart jumped out of chest! 40-50 yards out there was HEAVY surface thrashing and I saw the HUGE silhouette! "Baby! Its a shark!", "That things at least 6 feet!" I was was yellin at my girl... "Get the pliers, get the tape measure!"

Well i got in pretty good in the wash and handed the rod off to my girlfriend.... I headed out to sand that thing... Let me tell you if you haven't experienced this... Sanding your first shark, which happens to be bigger than you, with no one experienced at this around is TERRIFYING! The size of this thing was just shocking to see up close and personal for the first time! I was very happy i was well researched and knew exactly what to do. Got just outside of the waters edge and I was half way panicked... Trying to cover all the bases of pictures, measuring and unhooking within a really short time and knew i needed to get it back in the water quickly...
The pictures arent the best with all the adrenaline and half-panick of the situation for me and my girlfriend.. But we got a couple decent pics and got it back in the water in 2-3 minutes. Couldn't be happier.

92" Sevengill





There was definitely some hootin and hollering and high fiving after a smooth release!
My first official Grinner. So stoked! Proudest moment of my fishing career for sure.

Special thanks to Ramon for answering my 1000 questions. Would have been a lot harder without all your help big fella. Appreciated much!

[jlwells]

  that's a beast! Way to go boss!

[j.rasta]

Huge congrats bro! That things a donkey!

[TheCraftsman]

Thanks guys!
Oh and just for chart/info purposes, it was about 830-9pm, high tide was 720, so it was the backside of flood/beginning of outgoing tide...
And bait was mack (from the bait shop! Lol)

[xjchad]

  so stoked for you Paddy! Thought for sure you were pulling my leg when you texted me last night!

[sasquatch]

Nice fish. That whole tail grab thing still freaks me out and I have done it plenty of times.

[Eric H]

congrats paddy, that's a big one too

[spideyjg]

Awesome! You probably won November. That monster will be tough to beat.

Jim

[raychavez91]

Freakin awesome!!! I get a big thrill it of landing them lol i remember
The 1st big 1 got I thought was a big bat, so I passed my surf rod off to my girl to fight, and expecting it to be a big bat, I waded into knee deep to grab it, and when i caught the first glimpse of it, I got the hell out of the water quick lol

[Latimeria]

Awesome! You probably won November. That monster will be tough to beat.

Jim

Yes indeed... that will be a hard one to beat, but congrats on the beautiful catch! 

[TheCraftsman]

Thanks for the kind words fellas!

Awesome! You probably won November. That monster will be tough to beat.

Jim

Yes indeed... that will be a hard one to beat, but congrats on the beautiful catch! 

Would be great to win, but just happy to have the experience of catching one and joining the club!
I didnt take any pics with a tape measure so im not even positive if im eligible to win. Honestly i hope you guys all catch one just as big and get to enjoy the experience as well!

[Fish Jerk]

Once again congrats Paddy.

[Chris]

nice 7 gill!

now go get a better camera! lol. I have the Nikon Coolpix. water proof and shock proof. took it snorkeling a few times and it works great. I think they're $200 or less now.

[vdisney]

Absolutly awesome.............can't tell you how happy I am for you, Verne

[TheCraftsman]

Freakin awesome!!! I get a big thrill it of landing them lol i remember
The 1st big 1 got I thought was a big bat, so I passed my surf rod off to my girl to fight, and expecting it to be a big bat, I waded into knee deep to grab it, and when i caught the first glimpse of it, I got the hell out of the water quick lol

Lmao, I would've liked to see your face when you saw it was a big a$$ shark and not a bat!

nice 7 gill!

now go get a better camera! lol. I have the Nikon Coolpix. water proof and shock proof. took it snorkeling a few times and it works great. I think they're $200 or less now.

I actually have a Nikon coolpix. Although i dont think mine is waterproof/shatterproof at all. Problem is that I am techtarded and i struggle with the camera/computer/internet interfaces... Im sure i could figure it out but its just so much easier with a phone. Most of the problem wasnt the camera so much that I was panicked about getting it back in the water as I'm not really sure on how long is safe to have it out of the water and i really didnt want this beauty to die. On top of that, being that it was my first big shark, my chick was pretty freaked to get too close for a really good pic. Next one will have better pics for sure!