Tide: 0.4ft Low at 6pm
I launched the PA four times today searching for shark bait but only came up with a puny ladyfish. Luckily John had a few big baits in his freezer from the last few nights out. An hour before we setup for the night John caught a 38" redfish on the beach that put up a hell of a fight, his biggest by far. That made his night, although it would get better for him. Hopes were high as we ran baits out with whitebait and tarpon swimming in the troughs. A couple of hours into the night John's 12/0 with a 10lb bait went off. I was halfway in from running a bait out when I heard him yell "HE'S GONNA DUMP ME!". When I got back to the beach everyone was huddled around John and in awe at the shear strength of the beast..ripping out drag on a locked down 12/0 with ease. The drag plates started overheating minutes in and just as we fetched a bottle of water to cool it down the line went slack. I've only hooked a handful of monsters over the years and I can tell you from experience, as corny as it sounds, your life is no longer the same. Everything else seems so insignificant after losing a fish like that..you become zombie-like, only wanting to shark fish and never being satisfied until you get another shot at the one. In these waters, if you fish hard and often you'll hook maybe one fish like that every couple of years. We lost this time, but I'm confident next time will have a very different outcome. Monster season is upon us.
