# Feb sharkin PINS 2/5-2/8, Matagorda 2/12-2/15



## Shark_Reeler (Aug 16, 2014)

Part 1 of 2

PINS 2/5-2/8:
I was determined to do some sharkin in Feb come hell or high water! I headed down to PINS for a solo trip with the plan to run all the way to the jetties on Thu. I got a late start and hit a higher tide than expected. Getting pinched at the 25, I threw out a couple bait rods and got nada in 2 hours. The temp was dropping to the mid-40's and getting windy. Time to turn around and head back to town for a couple hrs, gas up and try again the next morning.

At low tide on Thu, I bombed down the beach and made it to the jetties in 2.5 hrs, a new speed record for me. LOL The plan was to try and pick up some sheepies near the rocks.









It was still darn cold and windy but I stick it out. Billy and Jeff show up about noon in the Friends of Padre truck but don't stay long.









Finally, about 3:30, paydirt!









Spent a long, cold, windy night at the jetties. Come morning, I head back north in search of a good spot to do a little sharkin. By mid-morning, the surf calms down a bit and the water starts to clear up. By noon, I had 3 baits out, a ray and 2 bull whiting I picked up earlier. I saved the sheep for a later trip.









As expected, the water starts to clear up and the temp climbs into the high 60's.









It was still cold enough to entice a black drum to take my bait rod. A fat little 34"er that looked like a bowling ball. Haha!









The hours go by, night falls and not even a sniff on my shark baits. I decide to leave the baits out all night and get some sleep. About 5am, I get a short run on one of the whiting. I can't believe it. I'm actually hooked up on a shark in early Feb. A 6'0" sandbar on the sand.









I get that one released and decide to hop in the truck and wait for sunrise. A couple hrs later, I feel the truck rock a bit and check my rods. Sure enough, I'm hooked up again on the other whiting. Hooaahh! 2 for 2. A 6'2" sandbar landed. Nothing big but satisfying none the less.









I decide to leave the ray out hoping for one more but it was not to be.

It's mid-morning and time to make a decision. Do I yak out 600yds to pick up my weight and bait or crank it in on my 80w? Screw it, I decide to crank it in from the rack. Wrong choice! The weight gets stuck on the 2nd bar and won't budge. I slowly crank it until the dreaded PING! Cut off.

Now comes the fun part. I've got a float, leader, weight and bait stuck on the 2nd bar with a 4' breaker coming every 3 sec in 58deg water, not exactly a good yakking situation to recover it. I pack up everything and decide to swim out to pick it up. Yeah, it was 10min in frigid cold water but I got it. Trip over.

Cheers!
-Ron


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## txteltech (Jul 6, 2012)

Great trip congrats on the sandbars, whea that swim in the drink must have been tough. Great job on the pics and thanks for sharing!!!!


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## Shark_Reeler (Aug 16, 2014)

Part 2 of 2:

Matagorda 2/12-2/15:

Fast forward one week. Our shark rodeo team was meeting up at Matagorda for a reunion and I was not about to miss out. Locked and loaded!









I get down the beach, bang out a couple of whiting on my bait rods and rig up some shark baits. 2 unthawed rays, a sheep from last week at PINS and a bull whiting. Normally, I would rig them up a little better but I forgot my rigging needle in my rush to get going. Circle hooks thru the heads should work anyway.









By noon, I had all 4 baits outbetween 300-400yds, not really far out.









About 3pm, I get a monster run with a screaming reel on one of the whiting. I climb up the rack, belt in and grab the rod just in time to see the shark breach 300yds out and cut me off! Dammit. First shark that's ever cut me off after a hookup. My float was heading south out of sight within minutes. I gave up any chance of seeing that shark again, reeled in my broken line and hiked down the beach with little hope of recovering my float and tackle. To my surprise, I spot the float about 500 yds down the shoreline but nothing attached to it. After inspecting the float connection, I conclude the massive shark somehow broke the swivel connecting the leader and float. Very strange

Anyway, I re-rig that rod with a new set of tackle and another fresh bull whiting. All 4 baits would stay out all night with no action. At sunrise the next morning, I yak out and check all my baits. All 4 were still intact so I left them to soak awhile longer.

About 9:30am, the whiting gets hammered again! A massive run and another shark breaches about 400yds out. I've got it this time. I slowly work it in letting it run a few times but never giving more than 50 yds at a time. 30min later, I have a massive sandbar in the wade gut still flailing. I could tell this one was well over 7ft and very strong.









A 7ft 6in female sandbar with a 44" girth. What a hog!









After measuring and removing the hook, a money shot, this big mama was quickly released just as the local sheriff showed up to help with a few pics. Redemption is sweet.

















The rest of the team showed up awhile later and we had a great time Sat night eating some good food, a few drinks and a roaring bonfire. Nothing better than that!

Just before dark, I ran out another smaller whiting on the lucky rod and called it a night. About 2am, I woke upo to check my lines and noticed my line was slack and crossed over another line. I tightened up the line and felt a slight bump on the end. Hmmm...another one? A few minutes later, I had a 6ft class sandbar on the sand with Grant's help to leader it in. The hook was removed and this one was sent on it's merry way.









I pulled in my other baits in about 2pm Sun and headed off the beach. If Feb is any sign off things to come, this will be a very good year!

Cheers,
-Ron


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## edjman (Aug 13, 2013)

Great report and pics! Looks like it's time eh?


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## surfnturf (Aug 9, 2012)

Great report! I needed that this time of year.


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## jagarcia10 (Mar 10, 2011)

Good stuff man. Great start to the year! 

That 7'6" Sandbar looks a lot thicker than my 7fter. Are you sure it was 44in? The girth on mine was 42". Could be the my pics though.. Aldo took them.


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## Greatwhite (Mar 28, 2011)

sweet. Good getting out there with everyone again.


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## [email protected] (Jan 14, 2005)

Nice catches! Thanks for sharing Ron!


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## Shark_Reeler (Aug 16, 2014)

jagarcia10 said:


> Good stuff man. Great start to the year!
> 
> That 7'6" Sandbar looks a lot thicker than my 7fter. Are you sure it was 44in? The girth on mine was 42". Could be the my pics though.. Aldo took them.


That's what I measured but yeah definitely a thick mama with a big appetite. No doubt the strongest shark for it's length. I dig the way these beastly bars breach far out when they realize they're hooked. The 7'6" I got last March was in the dark so I never got to see it breach.


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## Shark_Reeler (Aug 16, 2014)

[email protected] said:


> Nice catches! Thanks for sharing Ron!


 Thanks Oscar! Still working on getting an Ugly for the Drum-Masters. Haha


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## Dhn121 (Aug 15, 2014)

Nice outing you had there! I am learning so much reading your reports. Hope to catch one of those shark one day. Thanks for sharing your adventure to us all.


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

Great report


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## 96chevybeachbum (Jul 27, 2009)

Great report, looked like a good weekend!!


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Good report, thanks for sharing. It's great to see a good shark report in the winter!


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## Shark_Reeler (Aug 16, 2014)

shadslinger said:


> Good report, thanks for sharing. It's great to see a good shark report in the winter!


Thanks Loy! I figured someone with your experience would pick up on that.


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## bingorocks (Oct 30, 2014)

Hey Garcia, saw your truck on the cover of a publication down the beach. Congrats! 
Hey Shark Reeler, Great post bud! Glad folks like you post worthy stuff for folks like me to learn from.


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