But as we approached the end of the rocks, I could see one lonely shrimp boat way out there about 3 miles.
It was the Nancy Lee. Which even on days when there's 20 shrimp boats to choose from the Nancy Lee has been lucky for me.
We no sooner pulled up and I could see loads of sharks behind her. I cast, the bait flies off...... I re-bait and cast again, the bait flies off......I cast again, and this time it's a hook-up. The line snaps!
I.G. alright. I.G. to know where..... and each time the shrimp boat is pulling away and I have to re-run up behind it. Forth cast......let it drift, here comes one.......a shark comes up eats the cigar minnow on the big circle hook and.........Patrick is off to the races!
Before we even left the river, Mark asked, "is this boat guaranteed to catch gobs of fish?"
I told him "sure it is, and even sometimes in the middle of July summer doldrums."
And now Patrick is hunched over, line burning off the reel, he's looking all kattywhompus? And it comes to mind, "sometimes ya have to watch out, for what ya wish for."
I think..."Holy Crap" is what was going through Patrick's mind"
"The Pacific Sailfish in Costa Rica didn't pull like this"
Mark also did his fair share, but I got Patrick with the camera because he was the one that seemed to be handling all the hundred pounders. We even had a few spool unloaders, that jumped so far away that if you blinked you missed it. Of course that's the memory makers for me and the targeted species.
It's all about REEL FAST, bend my meat mover rod as hard as you can, that's why I'm using them. Don't sit down, stand up and lever the shark to the boat, with short one turn of the handle pumps, quickly. Fighting the tackle will kill your strength and stamina, in short order.
After at least 4 sharks if not more by way of hook-up and break off's. We went down the beach with some live baits and did a controlled drift around the Pogie pods possibly looking for a Tarpon, Shark, Cuda, or Kingfish. But never had a sniff.
I guess them Pogies out in 20' of water are safe for another day, if no one is hunting around them.
Then we came back to the ramp. It was a good morning, with hopefully lasting memories and a little, "I didn't know I used that muscle today, by later in the afternoon."
I'm OFF, for at least the next two days. No I won't even attempt to fish during the Kingfish tournament.
What I can't wait for is this: (yep, this was July 2008 a solo trip all by myself.)
