IanR

started caching bait around 2 pm. It started off real slow and didn't catch anything from shore. Fished some in the yak after paddling out a bait. Caught some hardtails, ladyfish, and a small flounder. Put the live ladyfish out and it got hit hard.



Spooled 300 yards of powerpro off my 309 in under a minute. It didnt help that one of the pins was lose and caused the gears to start grinding :banghead So once i saw the mono, my buddy and I jumped into the (single person) kayak, which was interesting enough in itself. Finally figured out what was wrong with the reel and fixed it past the second sandbar. The sharky continued to pull us down the beach about a half a mile. Got the shark in a stalemate for about 20 minutes, paddling and going nowhere fast. Finally got her ass tired and pulled her into shore about after about an hour of madness.



Much to my surprise it ended up being a fat, 5+ foot blacktip. The stinger broke off its mouth and had an 11/0 foul hooked in the top of the head. As i tried to revive it, my buddy ran down the beach to get the camera and some pliers while some tourists watched in amazement. Her gills were hardly moving, but were able to let her swim free after about 15mins.



Was an amazing fight! Had a great time but i dont think ill jump in a yak to save a spool of PP again. Missed about 4 or 5 others throughout the night. Also saw dozens of ladyfish sparking up the bioluminescence around 11pm. Was pretty creepy seeing all these flashes of blue around the yak, but none of them would hit any shrimp.



Still dying to hook up to something bigger than me....

mdrobe2

Sounded like fun to me. Thanks for the report.

__________________
Mike
2009 Key West 1520 Pro
2009 70 HP Yamaha 2 stroke
Garmin 540S GPS/Bottom Machine
Sound by Clarion and Bazooka
Coastal Night Lights Transom LED's
Minn Kota Riptide Co-Pilot/Auto Pilot GPS Enabled Remote Control Trolling Motor