4th of July Shark Fishing Series

The full moon and mostly good weather and water conditions are allowing for a 4th of July shark fishing series.  To be able to get up to the beach and fish night after night is a pleasure by itself even before a fish makes it in.  Will, Doug, and I started the event on Tuesday the 3rd, but when we arrived on the beach it was almost an unspoken 'the water looks too low.'  There is something to having an impression when you're next to the water, almost as if there is a sense whether the fish will be there or not.  The water wasn't coming up very far though it was high tide, but we dutifully rigged up and baited and waited.  Not even a hit, or at least not even a hit that was memorable.  I started to get the 'Oh man this summer, blah, blah' crap going, but I know better than to curse something.

And good thing the negative thought train was derailed.  The holiday dawned hot and bright, again, but the bait fish gathering was more successful.  Small bluefish were slamming metals thinking they were sand eels, which made it easy to fill the cooler.  Alright, alright.  Preparations were made and when we arrived on the beach at 7:45pm I thought 'this looks good'.  The water was high with a small south sea breeze swell.  Herring were popping in the wash.  I looked at Will and gave the telepathic nod that we're getting them tonight.  Then I repeated it several times out loud to reinforce.  A few fresh caught herring later and the baits went out . . .

Fireworks?  Who cares?  Let's go look at the shark!  Doug was all smiles with his ~3.5ft sand tiger in the ring of spectators.

. . . And eventually Doug's rod was going down.  Fish on!  Lines in, the shouting begins, the crowd comes, the backpack goes on and the ARC dehooker comes out of it.  It wasn't a long battle before Doug had his surf monster on the shore.  What is that thing?  I think it's a sand tiger!  I'm no certified ichthyologist, but when it rolled over and I saw the snaggle-teeth I went sand tiger Sand Tiger Shark.  The shark was unhooked quickly, photographed, and brought back into the water for a nice release.  Pretty nice, Doug.  Catch a few herring before dark, cut them up, and cast out for your own shark.  Pretty self sufficient.

Here we go!  You get one and you're going to get more.  Oh yeah, Doug's fish came after Will was hit and stripped clean of three feet of 80lb mono and 1ft of 80lb wire.  Will had another hit and was getting played with.  My rod also started to dance.  And then the sky starts flashing.  Damn thunderstorms!  A good flash and crack and we reeled in quick, leaving them biting.  We tried to wait it out, but after about an hour of watching lightning it was time for bed.  It was all smiles with the ice melted in summer 2012.

In my opinion the sharks and the sky were showing who really rules this place.

Doug is so good he catches three fish at a time.  Filling the cooler with a 'Sambuki' rig.

After Doug caught all these fish the stoke was running high for the 5th.  But notice the water level behind Doug in the photograph.  It looked a little low.  Other than the insane biting flies, that low water level bothered me.  I've been having an obsession with the water level lately.  The wind was west all day so the tide was a lot lower than the 4th.  We fished it hard with a cornucopia of fresh baits, but only managed a skate and two smooth sand sharks.

Olivia was high hook on the 5th with two sand sharks

We were 1 for 3 nights and the only night with a bite was the night with water like the good shark water picture.  When casting from the beach the height of the tide is an important- and sometimes the only- factor.

It's halfway through the 4th of July shark fishing series, and the main mission tonight is finding good shark water.  Somewhere where it is running deeper closer to shore because I think that is the biggest variable right now in getting some more fish on the beach.  All of the other conditions are excellent, the weather is good, the water is flat and clean, and there are abundant small blues and herring in the surf.  The holiday vibe is in the air.  Right now the wind is east which should raise the water level and also push the biting bugs out of spot number two.  I have a good feeling that if we can find the right water tonight, it's going to be the night of the summer.