Tide: 2.2ft High at 12am
In a last ditch effort, John and I gave it another shot before the slow season really sets in. On Sunday I spent twelve hours on the water searching for bait and finally found what I was looking for, in the bottom of the ninth on the low tide at sunset. I iced the bait down overnight and on Monday night we headed out to a new beach. Lately the bite has been extremely slow and late, between the two of us averaging only 1 to 2 runs per trip. If you missed a hookset, you missed your shot at catching a shark that night. A much different, unwelcomed scenario than what we were used to in the Spring. But, when it is slow, the excitement is somewhat elevated when a rod does go off. The 12/0s were deployed at 8:30pm along with a few bait rods. The lines were quiet yet again for hours, a real killer when conditions tell you it should be on. At the pinnacle of the high tide, the blue glow stick on my 12/0 line shot toward the Gulf and set off a roar that my 12/0 hasn't heard in awhile.
I picked up the rod, turned off the clicker and flipped the lever to freespool to minimize any pressure. It was a moderate, steady run. After about 40 seconds the line went slack. I tightened the star drag, flipped the lever to retrieve and slowly cranked until I caught up to the fish and felt weight. It felt the pressure of the circle hook and took off on a 20 second run. I tightened the drag more but that just made him speed up. I handed the rod off to John for a second so I could get harnessed up properly. Once in the harness, I really put the heat on. It kept going. I told John "this is the fish we've been looking for." It eventually stopped running but quickly turned into a standoff where I nor the fish were able to do much. I locked the drag down and got its head turned. I gained about 100 yards and then it charged the beach another 100 yards. My right bicep was burning from cranking so fast..it was all I could do to prevent from giving the fish any slack.
We got the fish into the surf zone.. I walked back toward the condos while John went for the leader..HAMMER! YES! I stuck the rod in the holder and went to help John but the shark was still green and took off. Easily another 75 yards gone on a locked down drag. I gained the line back and on the second go around John got hold of its tail. I ran to help and we both pulled. The shark was still green and whipped its tail around thunderously, knocking both of us to the ground. Pandemonium. Once secured in the wash, we scrambled for the release gear. The circle was embedded in the bottom lip and was removed on the first attempt. A quick measurement was taken..exactly 9'0"! We took some pics and promptly released the big female. The quest for a tiger is still alive...
