Leopard Shark On Light Tackle And A Hali 11/12/17 AM Report

[HalibutJoel99]

Headed out in the morning in search of a Halibut. Halibut was the last thing I caught for this morning session.Conditions were pretty nice, not much wind. And the waves were manageable. Armed with with my Daiwa Luvias 3000H and 15# Izorline. Fished the Lucky Craft and the first bite of the day was a Needle fish.

What happened next I wasn't expecting. Tried throwing a Green Sardine Hookup bait. 5/8 ounce. First 15 minutes nothing. then as I'm bouncing it slow off the bottom. I feel a thump! Next thing I know my rod is going bendo and the drag starts burning. I mean it felt like a train pulling. In my mind I was hoping it was a huge Halibut, but I knew it was either a Batray or Shovelnose. Drag was set just right. I had to follow this fish where ever it wanted to go, If I had any chance of beaching her to find out what was on the other end.

This fight lasted 35 minutes and pulled me down the beach 50 yards. At times, I just wanted to give up. Every time I made some progress, the line would just go back out to almost no spool. This thing wasn't getting tired.
Finally towards the end of this long exhausting battle, I would run down to the water get my line back. Then I had to bully her up on to the beach at the same time being very careful not to snap the line. I guess I had good knot tied this morning. Arms were tired, shoulders hurt and my hands were numb. Getting progress towards the end helped me not give up.

Finally saw it was a Leopard Shark and a four footer to boot. Foul hooked! No wonder why. Some nice gentleman was watching the battle and took a few pictures and some video for me. I wanted a quick release for this shark. Right back quickly in the water she went back to freedom. She was pretty heavy and they are pretty strong to hold when you pick them up. They're squirming is pretty solid! Strong critters for sure.

Funny thing was the hook was fine and not bent at all. The plastic part was gone. Those owner hooks are strong on the hook up baits.

Here is some victory shots.






Needlefish



And Lastly I got my Halibut.



Don't think I had that variety ever before on an outing. Fun times and a great memory of that battle I'll be able to look back on.

Still on that hunt for the big one!!

Thanks for reading my report.

Good luck out there. Until next tide.

Joel

[Pinoyfisher]

Nice Joel!! That looks like a lot of fun!

[vdisney]

A needle fish is on my bucket list Joel, WTG on sticking it out with the leo

[Latimeria]

Nice catching Joel!

Those nasty needlefish... I swear they watch and wait for your hand to get near the mouth and quickly strike and drawing blood!

[BackBayMan]

Awesome job. You never know what you're going to pull out of the ocean

[Latimeria]

Awesome job. You never know what you're going to pull out of the ocean

What I do know is: San Diego will have the biggest shark at the Grinner Gathering and San Diego will resume their dominance at the SNBF. 

[xjchad]

Wow, I thought they fought good on the big gear, can't imagine the battle you had!
Nice work Joel!!