While the weather feels more like late summer, it is indeed fall and mid-October means chaos along the south Texas coast. The Mullet migration is in full swing, along with the presence of various predators such as Jacks and Sharks behind them. Rick and I planned on hitting it hard for the weekend... there were top secret objectives and we knew our chances of tangling into some Bull Sharks were pretty high. Rick would meet me late Friday night, and Scott would later plan on showing up and joining in on the fun at some point Saturday.
I left the house around 5am Friday.. hit up Stripes to fuel up and grab my ritual breakfast tacos and was on my way to the seashore. The temps were borderline chilly, felt comfortable for once. Winds were still out of the North but were forecast to die down. Driving had concerned me but overall wasn't too bad. I stopped around the 20 and waited a bit for it to get light. Meanwhile I had time to kill... got my Jackfish gear organized, and had time to take a few long-exposure pics...
Here is a really cool long exposure photo.. more like the surface of the moon than Big Shell...
After a few more minutes I took another pic as we were just starting to get some day light on the horizon...
When there was enough light to see anything, I continued on. My intention was to spend the morning trying to get in the Jacks and supply some fresh baits. While bringing 3 well preserved frozen Jacks as back up, I really wanted some freshies. I stopped around the 25 and while not seeing much action, I decided to throw some Mullet out. Not long and it gets picked up and I soon have my first Jack of the morning on the beach...
I cast out again and instantly get another pick up, this time a grander Spanish...
I cast out again and get another Jack. Then low an behold who do I see stroll up... is he lost??? its Big Lou!! Lou and his son are down for the casting tournament but decided to spend the day fishing. I happily welcome them to join me in the baitfest. They begin fishing as they see me land a couple more Jacks. I'm starting to get them piled up like cord wood...
After a bit, Lou's son gets in the action and has fun of his own!
Another nice Jack on the beach!
We duke it out for a while but around 9am when it slowed down, I take off and head south. I currently have 9 Jacks on ice... and will end up using nearly every one of them this weekend. As I cruise south, the driving gets better past the high banks. I still do not know exactly where I am going to set up since there is random weed on the beach. Overall the water looks incredible and this is what I've been waiting for since the summer. I make my way to the jetties to check it out and see some of the Austin Fly Fishing guys setup etc. Make a few text to my comrades from the jetties and then head back up north finding a good spot. I get to what I think will be a decent place and by now it is 2pm. With no sleep the previous night, I decide to crash out for a couple hours and get refreshed so I can get some big baits rigged up for night time.
By dark, I have some sexy goodness rigged up and ready for deployment...
At sundown, I have 4 baits out...
The waxing first quarter moon lights up the sky...
Man she's bright tonight...
Not long after the sun went down and things got dark, I get my first bait picked up. Large tail roast section of Jack. Decent fish but not a monster. After a while I get it to the beach. It was a 6' 4" Bull. Didn't get any photos and since I was solo for now there was no one else taking pics either. I did however get a quick screen grab from the video...
I get the fish tagged and released and make a quick meal. Around 8pm the Avet 50 with the largest chunk of bait gets picked up. The line went slack and the rod dropped... thought perhaps I got cut off. Just in case I instantly began cranking in line... fast. I retrieve quite a bit of line but noticed something was odd. After quickly cranking in maybe as much as 100yds of line, I feel tension and catch up to the fish... wow... interesting. Then instantly the fish turned and begun to head offshore smoking me... yeah baby! After taking a line for a couple more minutes I grab the belt and harness and strap in... then the fish does a U turn and heads straight in... again... hauling ass... again. This is too fast for a Tiger... I know what it is but if I'm right, then it has to be BIG to pick up and drag this bait and tackle as fast as it is. Anyhow, I finally catch up to the fish again... then it turns.. again, heading straight offshore. After a couple more minutes of raw power and speed the fish appears to have dropped the bait... damn. Interesting. I will keep the bait out anyway.
After midnight the 80W would get cut off... it would be the one leader I would not get back this trip. Anyhow, early early morning Rick shows up. He gets his gear ready hopefully for a Jackfest in the morning, then gets some sleep for a couple hours. I would talk to him for a bit then go back to sleep myself. Come 5:30 I would wake up and get ready hopefully to encounter some more Jacks. Well the sun comes up and we have baits out... Skippy strikes first...
As he is reeling in that Jack, I look to the south and see a horde of Jacks crashing Mullet on the beach... pure chaos. Only thing I had rigged up was my Breakaway Alpha with a small Sebile topwater. They instantly suck it down in calf deep water... after an epic fight on the Alpha I get the fish in...
Great sight-cast action...
Interesting lure... this Jack seemed to like it!
Action was fast and furious, and even Rodbreaker would stop by and hang out and get into the chaos...
Anyhow, the Jack bite would last for the first couple hours of daylight like it has been. During the early morning hours I would also bring in the bait that got blasted. Initial inspection was... wow, mystery fish...
Upon further inspection, a couple important tidbits were revealed to help support me theory of the suspect fish... While not noticing it right away, I soon saw that one of the 14/0 hooks were straightened! Also, while looking at the bait and not evident in the picture, the teeth marks were actually small all things considering. So what does this mean. I strongly feel a big Greater Hammerhead had picked up the bait, explaining the speed and power along with smaller bite radius (still large at any rate). The hook being straightened could mean many things, but for the most part feel I had that shark if the hook didn't straighten, but perhaps it is a good thing... if the reel didn't get dumped and it was a large Hammer, there is a very probable chance that I would not have been able to release it alone. Ironically things may have worked out and maybe happened for a reason.
Moving on... come mid morning we get several fresh (Jack) baits out and soaking. Rick tries to go the incognito route using a mono leader and smaller baits. It soon pays off as he is hooked up on a 4/0. Pretty decent fish that puts a good whooping on him. After finally getting the fish over the 1st bar, Scott who just recently showed up for the madness goes out to leader while I film. Its a decent Bull... another 6 1/2' class fish... and she is still green.
As Scott is leadering her to the beach, she freaks out and at this moment the shark bites through the mono leader as pictured below...
The fish begins swimming away and I grab the tail but being a ball full of energy and pissed off, especially in thigh deep water I decide to back off due to logical safety reasons... I only risk my life during Sharkathon ;) haha
It is a tough loss and Skippy is battered, but as the classic shark fishing saying goes... "you lose one... you rig one".
My baits are still out, and are out deep. All are about 500yds. Water being extremely clear, I wanted to get the baits as deep as possible. I get a couple baits picked up and then finally I get hooked up on a fresh head section of Jack...
It's another decent fish but no monster... looks like the Bulls have slightly upgraded their average size this year versus the last few previous years of this same time. Nonetheless, the action is endlessly fun.
Rick bangs out some video of the action...
Not long and we get the Bull to the beach. A 6' 6" male. Nice to see the males around in the mix. We do our business and the shark is tagged and released.
Inspection of the bait shows that the hooks were perfectly placed for this particular instance...
I would get another run or two and then bring the baits in and re-rig for night-time. Once again, a fresh buffet of Jack Crevalle is on the menu...
Several quality baits are strategically placed offshore before dark...
Baits stay out, and the wind picks up a bit. After a while Skippy eventually reels in and heads off the beach. I'm still out with 3 big baits. Right before midnight a bait gets picked up... the jukebox is set on repeat and the record keeps on spinning. Another Bull hits the beach...
"Thanks for the free meal..."
Another Bull is released and I change into dry clothes again. I get back to sleep and hope for another bait to get picked up before sunrise. Well sure enough, around 5:30am the other head section of Jack gets picked up... same story, after a bit another Bull is on the beach and released.
This particular fish would have ate the whole bait bite by bite if given the chance.
Come sunrise, the Jack action is on again. I instantly get one on the beach. Then every time I looked down to Scott it seemed as if he was fighting one... well actually he was. This would last for a couple hours again then turn off. I wound up with 3 or 4 more and Scott would end up with 5. Anyway, despite the wind picking up slightly, we would rig some fresh baits and get them deployed. I would take a couple hits before actually hooking up around or just after mid-day. I'd get the shark to the beach and Scott leadered it. As we got it up on the beach, one of Scott's rods was going off so he rand down to his camp. Meanwhile, I am trying to take a photo on self timer mode... AND another one of my rods is going off. Mayhem!
Anyhow, I get the shark measured and released and my other bait that got hit during this time got dropped. So I run over to assist Scott who is hooked up.
Scotty fights the fish for a while but is stubborn and sitting still. I go out in the yak and pull the weight off the leader... I see a decent Bull, looks perhaps slightly larger than the previous. Anyhow, I get back to the beach and Scott continues to reel the fish in for a few minutes. When he gets the fish to the bar I go out to leader. This would end up being another first for me... AS I am leadering Scott's Bull, I see a shadow behind it coming in then disappear... I jump back thinking it crossed the bar and being in waste deep water I wanted to be cautious and not become a 'statistic'. I give it a few seconds and say screw it then leader the fish again... and I'll be damned if that other shark didn't pick up the remaining bait on the other drop. WILD. So here I am leadering two Bulls at the same time, on the same leader. I look back and Scott has a grin from ear to ear, happy as a clam.
Both healthy Bull are alive and kicking...
Scott gets his 13 footer! Well a 6' 6" and 6' 9" combo anyway! Scott poses with a rare double hookup...
We get the sharks sorted, measured, and released without any problems. Frigging wild... Congrats Scott, surprised and impressed the hell out of me! Anyway, we rock out a couple more baits real quick. It is now early afternoon and we decide to let the baits sit while we pack up. Figuring the weather was going to pick up anyway it gave us the perfect opportunity to get off the beach, especially considering it is low tide. We get all packed up and around 5pm start heading off the beach.
I love October... and I really love November. If you fish the beach, this is among the best time frame for incredible action as just seen. While we did not land any brutes, I feel I did at least encounter one even if it were just for a short time. That particular fish clearly displayed its raw power and I even have a souvenir hanging up now as proof.
Til the next great adventure which may not be too far in the future...
-Oz and the gang.
Weekend totals for Oz/Rick/Scott...
- 8 Bull Sharks over 6' 2"
- 18+ Jack Crevalle
- Countless fun and memories
