It has been a little while, and just wanted to let everybody know that we are STILL alive and kickin'. We have just relocated our corporate command center further north, and are finally beginning to get into the swing of things in the new shelter that we have affectionately dubbed "The Hammer Dojo". Brendon, Cody and myself have been entrenched in our new found hobby of wade fishing (more to come soon about this) but luckily during our hiatus we have people like Viktor around that pick-up our slack on the shark front.
Viktor has just reported back to base camp with a nice haul of fish over the course of a couple of afternoons, and we felt that this warranted a much needed shark report here on the site.
Viktor contacted me a few days back and said he had the bug to go out and get tight on some toothys, and with recent reports of some nice fish crusing close to shore, he maqde a solid game plan and acted on it accordingly. With only a few afternoon windows to fish before the seas kicked up, they hit the sand with expectations of big sharks and nothing else.
The first afternoon the bite was good, managing a few nice bites in just a couple of hours in the afternoon. And within a few short hours of easy fishing, they were rewarded with a nice Lemon and Black-tip with a nice shot of a double hook-up to cap off a nice first days fishing.
The second day went pretty much the same as the first, a few hits right before sundown, and a very nic Lemon shark to cap off another decent afternoon of fishing, but with the weather shifting quickly and cold water moving up the coast, they had to act fast if they were going to get a shot at the big fish they were searching for.....
The surf started to kick up on the finl day of the trip, making it increasingly difficult to replenish baits after they were terrorized by the local black-tips that patrol the troughs in the late evening. Around 6 p.m., they bite they were waiting for came. A slow, cocky pick-up on the long bait, which was a fresh Amberjack head. Viktor harnessed up and reeled tight to set the usually reliable circle hook into the sharks mouth, however this didn't go as planned. After a stout 50yd pull the hook disconnected , and their aspirations for the fish they had come so far for came crashing down in an instant. You could feel everybody spirits instantly drop at the camp, and with only a small section of bait left, reality sank in that the trip may finally be over.
Instead of packing up and heading home, Viktor made the call to drop the small bait that was left out deep, and hope it staye out long enough that the black-tips menaces would steer clear for another hour or so until sunset and maybe, just maybe, get a shot at another giant before the whistle blew.
Viktor deployed the raggedy midsection of the Amberjack, and sat back and waited for his hail mary to be answered. An hour had passed, and all had been silent, until the 12/0 finally let out another slow and cocky hit, this time the hook-up was solid and the shark took a strong,hard, long run toward the islands, and he knew he had a shot at what he was hunting for.
Back and forth for 45minutes, it was a brutal tug of war, with wild head shakes and hearty attempts to throw the hook lodge in her mouth, but resistance was infact futile. This was reassured when the blunt, gray dorsal arose in the first trough, it was the one they had come looking for.....
One of Viktors crew ran out and subdued the beasts tail, and the long and hard fought battle was finally over, and it was time for a couple quick photo op's.
The Bull had been beaten, but her spirits were not, as she turned on a dime and tried to take a quick goodbye snap at Viktor before she went back to binging on the creatures of the surf.
It goes to show, even when you are at your lowest point, unless you have bait in the water, you truly never know what could happen at an given moment. Fish hard till the very last moment, because you never know when Bulldacious could roll through your camp....
Stay tuned, we got more on the chopping block as we speak!!
Beast up!
Team Rebel out!
