# Team Shade Hats Sandbar Report - 7 Sharks to 88"



## alka144 (May 4, 2010)

A few office chairs sat empty last week as Team Shade Hats took to the coast for a rare Friday fish. Even as the conditions were set to worsen on Saturday, the team knew the seasonal Sandbars were in town and wanted to start the year with a few on the board.

Zach, Nathan, Pete, Gina and Lily scooted out of Houston Friday a.m. and hit the sand right around sandstorm-thirty. The noonday sun and 20 mph gusts brought on wind-driven sand swirls up and down the beach, a discouraging sign for the team, trying hard just to find a spot out of the elements. We looked for a mile or two and finally found a spot with a shallow wade gut and a deep cut in the sandbars that would allow us to kayak out baits. Camp was set, and the fish was on. Early bait casting yielded precious sheepshead and whiting for the shark rods, and a few slot reds even made an appearance.



















In the midst of deploying the full spread of shark baits, Zach's Daiwa 4/0W took off on a screaming run while he was kayaking out a bait. After bailing on the kayak run and running to shore, he fought this shark and ended up with a personal best 88" Sandbar! Great job Zach!










With luck on his side and a PB under his belt, Zach reran the 4/0W, only to have it take off on another run after being set for 15-20 minutes. Zach hooked up and managed a very pregnant 69" Blacktip.










The next few hours were spent getting more rods out and enjoying camp before the evening fish. This was Lily's first active fishing trip, and she was sure to get to work in no time.










Early evening came and Nathan's rods started screaming! A large, whole sheepshead was out on Nathan's Avet 50 and it got hit by something big. The shark tugged a few times before taking off on a brutal run and POP... a heartbreaking topshot/braid backing connection failed. Shortly after this, Nathan's Avet LX exploded with a screaming run. Nathan hopped up on the tower, bumped up the drag, and pop... a shell cut his topshot. Heartbroken after missing two BIG sharks, Nathan kept his head up and rerigged his Avet 50 with a new leader setup, but this time with a float. The sun started to set, and Nathan's lucky/unlucky rod took off again on a steady run. Nathan hopped up again on the tower for the third time, set the hook and bowed up hard. This time his connections held and the fight was on! A short fight later and Nathan landed a nice fat 78" Sandbar!



















With daylight fading fast, the action continued, this time for Pete. His 50W came to life and he hopped on it to hook this 66" Blacktip.










Fresh baits were deployed at dusk in ready for the night fish, and Pete headed into the new Camplite to put Lily to bed. But before her eyes could close, he shot out of the door at the sound of line burning off Nathan's Avet 50, and another fish was on. Nathan bolted out of his tent and fought this one in the darkness. Unfortunate camera difficulties missed a clear shot of this very pregnant 72" Blacktip, but here's a look, for what it's worth.


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## alka144 (May 4, 2010)

That catch brought the night to a close, as the rods went quiet and the team turned in for some much needed rest. Saturday morning started out cold and the winds had calmed, so the team called for bait deployment early. Not long after breakfast had settled, Pete's 4-wide started melting down! He grabbed his rod and he buckled down for what would be a very long fight. He knew from the battle that he either had a very, very big fish on the line, or he had foul-hooked an early riser. After a 30 minute fight and a long walk away from camp, he finally got eyes on - yes - a foul-hooked but massive 82" Sandbar.



































7.JPG

With 6 sharks in the pocket, we weren't done just yet. Packing up camp was underway around 11 a.m. when Zach's Daiwa 4/0W took off again, burning off line, and he readied for one last catch. After a strong fight and over a 200 yard run, he brought in one more hungry female Sandbar, taping out at 86".




























It was lucky number 7 that wrapped up a stellar opening trip for Team Shade Hats. We packed up camp and set our sails for Houston, with only one minor snag I would be amiss not to mention... the maiden voyage for our new camper hit a sandy rut on our way out that required the help of a winch, a banana yellow Jeep, and some shirtless fellas that were kind enough to anchor for us.










Gina, unimpressed, riding shotgun.










Life is sure in the adventures we have when we leave the pavement and city lights!

2016 is sure to be an amazing fishing season, and Team Shade Hats is proud to say that with our help, there are now 64 sharks swimming in our oceans with research tags in them. We are honored to play a small part in the conservation of these amazing animals, and as always, we are proud to be a strictly catch-and-release team. Here's to the next 64 and beyond!


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## alka144 (May 4, 2010)

Gearing up for our next adventure,
Gina B.

TeamShadeHats.com


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

Awesome report and pictures


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## daddyhoney (Dec 4, 2006)

All good stuff right there!


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## mike flores (Aug 24, 2015)

Awesome post

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

That is getting it on Team Shade Hats! Thanks for posting and congrats on a fine sharking trip.


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## troutless (Feb 17, 2006)

A very awesome detailed report and photos.í ½í¸„ 
Gina is a cute little girl fisher person.


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## Big Guns 1971 (Nov 7, 2013)

Nicely done Sir...


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## TexasTom (Mar 16, 2011)

Great trip and report! Thank you!!!


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## ToothyAngler (Mar 18, 2015)

What part of the coast were y'all on


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## Slow Boat (Jun 12, 2011)

Thanks for the great report. That's some fine writing and good photos. That little one cutes-up your camp real nice.


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