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3-5 /
3-6-07 Padre Island National Seashore Report |
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Surf
Conditions |
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I headed out about mid morning and
got to a spot that looked fishable at 2PM. The was no
new seaweed on the beach. However, there was dead
seaweed in the water. Mainly on the first bar, but in
some areas out to the second bar. I had to watch the
color change in the water to determine a fishable spot.
The good news was that there was very little current.
Good for helping to keep the line free, but not always
good for fishing.
As I set up camp, I had two rods out with shrimp. I
could not lose a shrimp. There was no whiting. I had to
rely on frozen baits. As they were thawing, I spotted
two sharks. One beyond the third bar and the other
inside the third bar. Judging by the dorsal fins, I
believe they were either bull or sandbar sharks. They
looked to be in the 7 ft range. Once the bait was
thawed, I yakked out two pompano and two little tunnies.
I was visited by Great Blue
Heron the whole afternoon. I think he wanted a hand out,
but I had nothing for him. |
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Great Blue Heron |
Full
moon rising of the water |
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I left those baits out until
5:30AM when I got tired of picking dead weed off the
lines. Both tunnies had teeth marks, but neither of the
pompano did. I was beginning to think the 5 degree drop
in water temperature turned the sharks off. I know they
were there, but just not active. |
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Surf
Conditions |
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I did manage 4 whiting and a
ray right at dark and with all my rods already out, I
elected to save them for the next day. The next day
started at 9AM as I slept in. I got up and inspected the
water. Dead weed settled right in front of me. So, I
pulled up stakes and moved a few hundred yards down the
beach. I set up and began to bait rods. I sent out three
whiting and half of the ray. As I waited, I fished bait.
Still no whiting. I did manage another ray.
First hit came around noon. The
rod began to bounce frantically. As it did, I looked out
to see splashing on the surface. I picked up the rod and
before I can put pressure on it, the line breaks. I
reeled to find a section of fraid line. I think the
shark rolled up the leader and into the line. Very
naughty!
Some time went by when another
rod bounced. I left alone and a few minutes later in
went down on a short run. I pulled back and was hooked
up. It seemed to pull a bit better than a blacktip even
though I saw it break water. I got it to shore and
leadered it. It was a sandbar shark.
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BeachBum with
a 5'3" sandbar shark
Tagged &
Released |
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I rigged up my last whiting and
yakked it back out there. Then something happened that I
have never experienced. I dropped the bait and began
back to shore. As I crossed the third bar I got whacked
in the face by a line. Then there was an explosion
behind me. One of my rods was in the process of getting
hit. I busted hump back to shore, but it was too late. I
ran to the rod that was slack. I tighten up to it and
weight stuck. So I left it there hoping that the bait
was still there. It was not. When it was checked, just
an empty hook remained.
Short time after that hit, the rod
I just yakked out took a short run. It remained tight so
I didn't touch it. Then it took off again. Picked it up
and was hooked up to Air Tipper! She jumped 3 times on
the third bar, exploded on the surface many times, and
the jumped 2 more times on the second bar. Quite a sight
to see. |
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BeachBum
with a 5'10" blacktip
shark
Released |
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I missed two more hits on ray.
However, I feel like if I had more whiting, I would have
gotten more hits. I do also think the combination of not
having the right bait with little current, the full moon
phase contribution of reduced tidal movement and the 5
degree drop in water temperatures made the shark less
aggressive in feeding. |
