Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there!
I fished last night June 20th from 6pm to 10pm. I arrived on the sand to find overcast skies and a steady west breeze. The surf was pulling north and the water temp was around 68 degrees. I brought two rods to to do a little light line soaking while I waited on the elusive big game bite. I was using my 8.6 Shimano clarus w/ a 2500 Sahara spinning reel to catch some fresh bait. It didn't take long on my third cast I caught a 10" YFC that I cut up into thirds. The head was hooked onto my 10/0 circle hook and casted out just past the first set of breaks (60 yards). I play around with the light gear for the next 30 minutes to land two more 10" YFC.
Sunset didn't happen til 8pm, so I was able to see my line getting pulled north by the current. I didn't like the angle of my line so I reeled in my line to reset it. After bringing in the line I see an empty hook, there must have been some critters out there messing with my bait. I reset the long rod and by this time it's dark and I decide to pack away the small rod to give my full attention to why I came. As I am breaking down the small rod, my long rod bends over hard with my clicker screaming and line peeling off my Penn 535 reel. I get to the rod and set the hook but I forget to tighten down the drag first, so I had no tension on the line.
After realizing my error I tighten down the drag and try it again. The fish is still, so I continue to crank down on the reel. The fish goes left and does a head shake and it's gone.
.
I reel in the line to fine a big chuck on my bait missing, based on the bite and run, it was definitely a soupie and not a bat or 7 gill. I rebait with another chucks of YFC and cast it out again. I was a little upset with myself for rushing the hook set and acting like a noob :' (I know I would have gotten S%$t from Mike if he was there.
) After 20 more minutes I get a second opportunity to redeem myself, the rod doubles over again and this time I wait to let the fish take the line and tighten the drag before I set the hook. After 5-10 seconds (which felt like hours) I wind down and give a pull up on the rod, the fish is on it's the right kind, I see splashing on the surface and it's a soupie, it goes right and shakes it's head, then changes direction to the left. I check the drag by giving the line a quick pull and it's tight, but not too much tension that I will break off this fish. The fish goes right again and then the line goes slack, I was so pissed that this second one got away. I was thinking "what did I do wrong?", as I am reeling in the slack, that feels really light. When I get the line back in I am missing my weight and find my cable frayed.
I chalked the second miss opportunity to equipment failure, I had been using that rig for two prior sessions. I tie on a brand new three-way rig on and add a 7oz weight. I cast it out again with another chunk of YFC. It's about 9:15pm by this time and the 6' high tide was at 9pm so the water is outgoing at this point. I reset my sand spike closer to the water line, since I have more beach to work with now. I wait another 20 minutes and I get a little tap on the line, I go to investigate what's going on. I pick up the rod and wait to see if what ever it was would coming back. I feel the fish come back and takes the bait while I am hold the rod. (very cool)
This time I am in no rush to set the hook, I give it a 10 second count while I am tightening up the star drag, I take take a couple of turns on the handle and then set the hook, this time it feel right. The fish doesn't take off immediately, it swims away but doesn't know it's hooked yet. I take a couple more turns on the handle and then the fish realizes it's hooked and takes off straight out to sea. No left or right movement, just straight. My line is peeling off and I don't dare touch the drag at this moment, I just let it run. My mono is almost gone and I can see the white braid backing on my real. The fish finally slows down and I start to crank on the handle to get my line back, the fish moves to the right and then to the left. I don't see any surface splashes, but by the speed of the initial run, I know it's not a 7gill. After a 5 minute back and fourth tug of war I get the shark in the shallow water. I can see it's a thick soupie! I time the next wave and walk the fish backwards, since I didn't have a sandhand!
(No one likes you Mike!)
So, I tried my best to get a couple of shots, but these photos don't reveal the thickness of this shark.
I estimate this female soup fin to be about 65" long. After a few minutes of reviving this fish, it swims away strong.
I checked my hook after the battle and you can see it did a number on the 10/0 circle hook. The hook on the right is the one that got bent into a "C" shape from this shark.
I called it quits at 10pm. Super cool to finally get a legit shark bit and put another one on the board. Thanks for ready my extended post!
