| Author | Message | ||
| Atthewall
Bass Username: Atthewall Post Number: 698 Registered: 11-2004  Rating: N/A |
I hit the coast last weekend with the hope of catching sharks. Grabbed my son Austin and rolled down to Drifter's home in Corpus Friday evening. We sat around the bar-b-que pit and gorged ourselves on pork ribs and rib eyes, knocked out 3 hours of sleep and hit Padre Island National Seashore (PINS) early AM Saturday. LETS FISH BOYZ!   Drifter and his son Philip  My son Austin, diligently watching the rods. Thank God these shark reels have a clicker LOL!  Drifter's surf setups  That far right reel is a Penn 14/0. It's lovingly called "DA SPARE TIRE." We didn't make a set with this monster due to the slow fishing but one day the hope is we can harness in on something to justify the overall weight required to fight with a reel this big.  My surf setups. My large rig is a Penn Senator 130lb class stand-up rod, no rollers, just Fuji guides (better in sand) with a Daiwa 900H (Penn 9/0 with more cap and better drag without custom mods). I have it spooled with 1500 yards of 65lb test PowerPro. I made one set at a 1/4 off the beach...nothing  Oh well there will be more opportunities. It's way lighter and easier to manage for long sets. I use a Numark "Port Mansfield" fighting belt if and when it lights off. One day...one day.  The entire day, sunup to a few hours after sundown, were fished hard...way hard. We ran out mullet, whiting, live hardheads with barbs cut off, king mackerel head, stingray, croaker and skipjack. If I had a dirty kitchen sink, I would have probably run that offshore as well. Surf was rough and sandy on Saturday and it was heck chasing mullet in the surf with cast nets. No visibility but we did manage a few fresh mullet for a few sets. It's a lot of work to keep about 10 rods offshore with fresh bait. Yak out, surf in only to grab another rod and start all over again. Burned a few calories this weekend for sure!  The old Penn 4/0 Wide is a great reel for sharks up to 150 lbs. When spooled with PowerPro, 65lb test, you can dump about 700 yards of line and top shot with 200 yards of mono for a pretty healthy light reel with enough muscle to fish without too much fatigue. I also fish a Daiwa 600H spooled with rougly 1200 yards of PowerPro and it's light enough to keep fishing without the arms falling off. I typically rig medium powered reels with Spectra lines (more cap) and wear a glove to thumb the spool when I need more drag on the fight.  We ate like kings and this little smoker is a perfect tail gate rig for the sand. Axis burgers anyone?   Sunday the winds calmed down and the surf cleared to it's green/blue color typical of this time of the year. We started early with fresh caught surf run mullet and fished till 11 am. Not one run to show for our efforts. I ran live baits on 5ft heavy mono leaders with the hope of picking up a King Mackerel, Tarpon or big old Jackfish. NATHA! Sunday's sunrise with fresh baits soaking offshore.  Well with the water so clear and surf conditions calm, I opted to spend my last 2 hours offshore in the kayak casting artys. Lost 3 fish before I managed to finally get a good bend on, 3/4 oz Johnson Sprite spoon, the "GO TO" lure, in the surf zone when things are way slow. Hooked up in the 3rd gut (200 yards out) and fought my way into the wade gut and handed the rod off to Drifter for the land. A darn good sized Pompano and he stayed deep and ran a lot of line out on my 10lb test casting setup. I thought I had a jackfish till this puppy hit the sand. Mom and Dad enjoyed this Pomp...first one in many years for them.  All in all we had a blast, huge bonfire Saturday night, and a complete soul recharge along the Texas coast. Till next time...TIGHT LINES AMIGOS! (Message edited by atthewall on July 28, 2007) | ||
| Simek
Bluegill Username: Simek Post Number: 168 Registered: 1-2005  Rating: N/A |
Awesome pics Rob, and it looks like y'all had a helluva time. | ||
| Charles
Moderator Username: Charles Post Number: 926 Registered: 7-2004 Rating: N/A |
Good times! Thanks for sharing. | ||
| Tomc
Minnow Username: Tomc Post Number: 95 Registered: 12-2006  Rating: N/A |
What a trip. Doin' it up right!!!! Thanking Him, all day long --- tomc | ||
| Picou
Wall Hanger Username: Picou Post Number: 2648 Registered: 8-2004  Rating: N/A |
Great job Rob... You are a master of PINS and that camera...  Thank you Lord for my family and the waters I get to fish | ||
| Texfisher
Bass Username: Texfisher Post Number: 700 Registered: 8-2004  Rating: N/A |
Rob, you have got that pins fishing down to an art. Thanks for sharing another great trip. If you're richer than me I think we're related. If you're poorer than me I know we're related. My bass club webpage http://texbass.8m.com/ 
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