# Blacktip Shark at Surfside Jetty



## fisherman89 (Jul 19, 2010)

On Friday, July 9th I was fishing on the Surfside Jetty, before a convention in Houston. I was about 200 yards out on the jetty from the beach, using cut Croakers and Hardheads (which I caught) as bait. I used 12' spinning surf rods with ~200 yards of 30# test. My homemade setups consist of 4' of 120# steel leader attached to a single 12/0 circle hook and 10' of 80# mono shockleader (for protection from the rocks). On the mono I had a sliding 4 oz spider weight.

Around 8:00am I had a nice bite from a good sized fish. After 10-15 minutes of fighting it, the hook came out. It was pretty frustrating, since I have been trying to catch a big shark for 12 years here. (I have never lived near the coast, though I used to live in Texas and came to the jetty occasionally.)

Just 20 minutes later though, I had another good bite, using both fillets of a 10" Hardhead Catfish. This time the hook was set perfectly in the corner of his mouth. After some lengthy and powerful runs, I slowly started reeling him in. He took me over 150 yards further out on the Jetty. After at least 30 minutes of fighting him, I finally got him to the rocks. Thanks to a couple other kind fisherman, we got him up on the jetty, which was quite a chore. The waves were 3-4 foot and the shark was difficult to grasp and handle on the rocks.









I think he was a Blacktip shark. He was slightly shorter than me (5" 9'), so I estimate almost 5.5 ft for length. I could not lift him very easily. I think he was around 60 lb.

After pictures, I got him back in the water. It took a couple minutes of holding him in the waves before he started going. He didn't move much on land, since he was so exhausted. But he swam off just fine.

Though I did catch a 4.5ft, 35 lb Bull Shark a few years ago, this is the biggest shark I've landed. I've had several larger sharks on, but never could land them. I am very pleased to finally have hooked and landed a good-sized shark.


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## danmanfish (Jun 17, 2010)

nice blacktip.. u got some ba--s to hold it up while its still alive...


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## ranger-370 (Jul 13, 2010)

*Great shark*

That's right near where my wife and I will be next month and I would be happy with one half that size! Great shark!!!:cheers:


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## boudreaux (Aug 27, 2004)

that right there is a nice fat Bull shark. WTG


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## iwanashark (Jul 13, 2009)

boudreaux said:


> that right there is a nice fat Bull shark. WTG


yup its a bull. nice catch. what was the length on it?


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## goodwood (Mar 30, 2009)

Here for the shark hugs.


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## Julsbfishin (Jul 2, 2008)

Yes nice fat Bull shark, Hope "she" was released back safely.


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## Sea-Slug (May 28, 2004)

boudreaux said:


> that right there is a nice fat Bull shark. WTG


 X2


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## Harbormaster (May 26, 2000)

That's awesome! :smile:


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## FireEater (Jul 31, 2009)

Nice catch, bet it was a great fight.


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## rmiller4292 (Oct 17, 2009)

FireEater said:


> Nice catch, bet it was a great fight.


Thats funny right there!!


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## rkd (Jun 7, 2010)

*Bull sharks*

7 known types of shark (out of hundreds) known to be man-eaters and Bull is one of them. Just moved to coast and am amazed how many sizeable sharks you guys are catching and how many swimmers we have on the coast with little to no biting incidents.(not to mention the occasional tiger or hammerhead I've seen posted) Just goes to show they don't deserve the bad rep.


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## holysmokes (Jul 9, 2008)

He's a shark whisperer, they won't bite him. Nice shark.


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## iwanashark (Jul 13, 2009)

rkd said:


> 7 known types of shark (out of hundreds) known to be man-eaters and Bull is one of them. Just moved to coast and am amazed how many sizeable sharks you guys are catching and how many swimmers we have on the coast with little to no biting incidents.(not to mention the occasional tiger or hammerhead I've seen posted) Just goes to show they don't deserve the bad rep.


We've had 2 attacks this year both off of 8 mile rd. galveston. Before those attacks its been years since. The water has been muddy with both the bites and They think they were both bulls. So just becareful when its muddy and wear pants and shoes wade fishing that way your leg flesh isn't flappin around like bait.

Fireeater, that is epic.hahahaha


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## fisherman89 (Jul 19, 2010)

Thanks, guys. It was a great fight. It felt like I was hooked to a car at times, my line was going out so fast.

Nice job FireEater, that is hilarious.

I'm guessing the shark was just under 5.5'.

At Surfside Jetty, only 50 yards from the beach, I saw at least an 8 foot hammerhead several years ago. The fishermen got it to the rocks, but it was not tired in the least and must have been several hundred pounds. I will never forget being 10 feet from him, as he was going back and forth. He was not landed.


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## 3up3down (Jul 12, 2005)

Nice shark!!

The chick is not that impressed she is not even looking?!? That pic could have turned out really bad, some balls you have sir.


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