Sometimes you just get a "sign" randomly that signals to you that you have to go soak a bait, and that's how this story begins. I was gassing up with what little cash I had available at a local gas station, when I saw it, the universal sign of METAL, and I knew I had to call Team Rebels newest metal contributor and spring into action ASAP.
I called Cody and told him what had happened, and he agreed that we needed to act accordingly by finding the closest water and rowing baits before the day was gone. So I packed up the gear and met Cody at his house and it was time to rock!
Obviously, since I was low on the fossil fuels, we decided to throw all the gear into Codys rig and in no time we were finally beach bound in search of what would accept our stingray offering.
We arrived with some favorable conditions for a change, and were anxious to put baits out to see what would come of it. However, the tide was not in our favor and there was seaweed starting to creep into the trough and our lines, but we were in too deep now to turn around.
Hours passed as we conversed about who our favorite metal bands, and sang the praises of the band DOWN's guitar player Kirk Windstein and how cavemanish he is. That's when Codys 80 TTS began to light up. Cody has never spent much time shark fishing on the beaches for anything besides black-tips and spinners, but he has been committed since he Team Rebel induction to getting tight on something stout on the sand, and it appeared his chance had finally arrived.
After about 4 pick ups and drops the spool finally was rolling steady, that's when I told Cody to "lock it down" and let the circle hook engage into the sharks mouth. Without hesitation Cody locked up and line started peeling off the reel, it felt like a decent one. Cody being new to this opted to sit in the sand instead of the more traditional Team Rebel harness while the fish was taking its initial run, and this one had a lot of heart!
The fight lasted about 15 minutes until I saw the JET BLACK dorsal pierce the water in the first trough. It was the unmistakeable sickle we saw cutting across the water all while it was executing some ferocious 180's as it tried to elude capture. However its attempts were futile, as I bum rushed the shark the first opportunity I had. In an instant, Cody had landed his first real beach shark.
We took two pictures before the hook was cut and I was dragging the angry black hammer back to its watery home, but not before Cody was able to snap this cool picture.
So far Cody has broken into the Team Rebel ranks while bringing it STRONG to whatever expedition we have embarked on, and if his luck keeps up, something big is lurking on the horizon...........
Until next time....
Team Rebel OUT!
