# Two Blacktips in the Surf



## crypticglobe

Been lurking for a while, finally joined. I had a great time fishing off Galveston beach Wednesday evening. Just down from Woody's... I think it's Golden Beach or something like that.

Anyway... there was a lot of action going on beyond the 2nd sandbar... I could see the bait going crazy. I was fishing on live and dead mullet. I got on a hit on everything I threw out. I pulled in two 25" blacktips and the fattest 28" red I have ever seen. I hooked two more fish... never did see them... but they got off before I got them close.


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## tha bum

*black tips*

Nice catch, I love to catch those Black tips they are a blast but I have never been able to catch a big red fish, bet its not bad either.


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## crypticglobe

tha bum said:


> Nice catch, I love to catch those Black tips they are a blast but I have never been able to catch a big red fish, bet its not bad either.


Yeah.. the red actually put both the sharks to shame. I actually thought it was another shark about twice the size until he came out of the water... still 50 yards out.

Went back to the same spot last night and nothing was going on though.


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## 535

most agree that if you are going to eat shark, bleed them out and gut them immediately and put them on ice... limit is 1 per day 24" minimum... nice catch and great pic of your girl


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## crypticglobe

jc said:


> most agree that if you are going to eat shark, bleed them out and gut them immediately and put them on ice... limit is 1 per day 24" minimum... nice catch and great pic of your girl


Yeah... I knew about the size limit... these were both 25"... but I didn't know you could only get one per day! Yikes. Thanks for letting me know. Won't make that mistake again.

I have heard about bleeding, but didn't do it. I did get them on ice right away though. They tasted great cut into pieces and friend in peanut oil and cornmeal as "shark nuggets".


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## FREON

that size is very good grilled also...IMO


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## Gilbert

don't forget to put that oversize tag on the red either.


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## iridered2003

Gilbert said:


> don't forget to put that oversize tag on the red either.


28in red is not oversized. the other shark was your lil girls limit,right?


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## ranger-370

I can see your little girl is proud of Daddy! great job and enjoy the shark fishing. It's a blast.


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## crypticglobe

Gilbert said:


> don't forget to put that oversize tag on the red either.


As mentioned above, that Red is 28". I measured it 3 times to be sure.

I am very conservation minded. I will admit to overlooking the 1 shark per day limit since this was my first shark catch. However, a friend told me that because my son who is 6 was fishing with me that we were technically still ok with 1 shark per person.

I am not sure how that really works... is the bag limit per person fishing regardless of who catches them... or do people simply work off that "philosophy" since if stopped, the warden would have no way of knowing who caught what.

Thanks!


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## aggiemulletboy

crypticglobe said:


> As mentioned above, that Red is 28". I measured it 3 times to be sure.
> 
> I am very conservation minded. I will admit to overlooking the 1 shark per day limit since this was my first shark catch. However, a friend told me that because my son who is 6 was fishing with me that we were technically still ok with 1 shark per person.
> 
> I am not sure how that really works... is the bag limit per person fishing regardless of who catches them... or do people simply work off that "philosophy" since if stopped, the warden would have no way of knowing who caught what.
> 
> Thanks!


In theory, it was explained to me that you shouldn't be filling anybody's limit other than your own. For example, it wouldn't be legal if you limit out on trout and keep adding more to the box because your friend isn't catching.

If you actually let your kid reel in the fish though (which not sure why you wouldn't...I think any 6 year old would be overjoyed to catch a little shark) you are good regardless.


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## iridered2003

aggiemulletboy said:


> In theory, it was explained to me that you shouldn't be filling anybody's limit other than your own. For example, it wouldn't be legal if you limit out on trout and keep adding more to the box because your friend isn't catching.
> 
> If you actually let your kid reel in the fish though (which not sure why you wouldn't...I think any 6 year old would be overjoyed to catch a little shark) you are good regardless.


 i think your theory is right on the money. you cant by law fill some elses limit, but not sure whats wrong with it if its your son or any kid fishing with you under your supervision.


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## iridered2003

by the way,most of the time i will hand the rod to a kid if theres one fishing with me just to see their face LIGHT UP like a hoo


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## fishingcacher

crypticglobe said:


> As mentioned above, that Red is 28". I measured it 3 times to be sure.
> 
> I am very conservation minded. I will admit to overlooking the 1 shark per day limit since this was my first shark catch. However, a friend told me that because my son who is 6 was fishing with me that we were technically still ok with 1 shark per person.
> 
> I am not sure how that really works... is the bag limit per person fishing regardless of who catches them... or do people simply work off that "philosophy" since if stopped, the warden would have no way of knowing who caught what.
> 
> Thanks!


Technically it is one per person per day. Also technically the other person must cast and bring in the fish. Game Wardens use binoculars.


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## Sharkhunter

You did real good Pilgram... Now go get you another...


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## Shattered-Pole

What I always thought was a grey area was "possesion". I haven't asked, but I assume that if you look like you've been camping out you can get away with 2x the daily bag. but so far I have yet to see something written in black and white that totally explains and defines the limit 'possesion" and the annual field book gives only a loose defination at best. Then you have the horror stories of GW's of raiding someones home freezer. I don't wholly believe these stories since in the book it does state that once your catch makes it to your permanent residence, it is out of bounds so to speak and does not count toward any bag or possesion limits.


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## aggiemulletboy

Shattered-Pole said:


> What I always thought was a grey area was "possesion". I haven't asked, but I assume that if you look like you've been camping out you can get away with 2x the daily bag. but so far I have yet to see something written in black and white that totally explains and defines the limit 'possesion" and the annual field book gives only a loose defination at best. Then you have the horror stories of GW's of raiding someones home freezer. I don't wholly believe these stories since in the book it does state that once your catch makes it to your permanent residence, it is out of bounds so to speak and does not count toward any bag or possesion limits.


Why would you try to cheat the system and our state anyway by making it look like you are camping to catch an extra fish? Possession is an animal that is anywhere other than your permanent residence ex: a hotel room, the back of the truck, the cooler, your camphouse or lodge, etc.


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## capt.sandbar

Comon guys... Let's not beat the issue to death. Points have been made and acknowledged. It doesn't always have to turn into a debate on the minor technical issues.
I'm glad you and your daughter caught a couple blacktips and a great red. Sounds like a great day!!


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## blemoine

Nice catch, I enjoy catching the bull red's. They are a lot of fun. Me personally I release because the bigs ones aren't as tasty


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## pg542

capt.sandbar said:


> Comon guys... Let's not beat the issue to death. Points have been made and acknowledged. It doesn't always have to turn into a debate on the minor technical issues.
> I'm glad you and your daughter caught a couple blacktips and a great red. Sounds like a great day!!


.... x2...


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## Sharkhunter

pg542 said:


> .... x2...


 X1000:cheers:


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## Shattered-Pole

aggiemulletboy said:


> Why would you try to cheat the system and our state anyway by making it look like you are camping to catch an extra fish? Possession is an animal that is anywhere other than your permanent residence ex: a hotel room, the back of the truck, the cooler, your camphouse or lodge, etc.


No no no... Not as a cheat. I do a LOT of weekend camps. Like from Friday thru sunday. So for instance, over a 3 day weekend camp I could only keep 2 shark catches(1 friday 1 saturday) and would have to throw back any shark caught on sunday. what the grey area I was referring to was say that you do catch 1 on fri and 1 on sat. you plan to leave on sunday, Saturday afternoon Mr. GW rolls up on your camp and finds that you have 2 shark. With a daily bag of 1, possession of 2, this says to me that if you don't have a camp set up and appear to have been there for more that a day then you had better not be the only one on site with a valid license. This to me is one of those rules that will depend on what kind of mood the GW is in.

But as far as "cheating" the system.... no thanks.... I've already paid my fines from a simple mistake of misreading the daily bag table and even tho mistake was an honest one the fine was hella-stiff.... $275 for a first and only offence and that was with the catch being released still alive. So cheating the system is not on my list of things to do.

I even chased down a GW one time to ask a question about size limits that were in conflict. those limits were the Federal length limits vs the State limits. The GW that I talked to didn't exactly clear the air on my question, but told me what he believed I should do. Since I've drifted off to this I may as well ask here and see if any of you guys know or have run into this problem.

Using lemon shark for an example, the state length limit is what 64in I think? the Federal limit is 56in. In TX, once you break 9 miles off the coast, you are in federal and have to have a Federal license for the boat to catch and keep a few species of game fish. My question to the GW was if I go catch my state bag, and then go and catch my federal bag, and then get stopped, how do I explain the 56in catch I have on me. He told me that I would either need to have a GPS marked where I caught the federal catch, or that I should make sure that my state catch was first and then go out further and catch federal, and not the other way around. But being stopped on the way back in was still a hard point for him to clear. He said that as long as I had both licenses and the GW believed I was telling the truth I would be fine. But to me, having a GW believe my story isn't exactly what I want to rest all my catch and bank account on. I'd like to know if there is anything more that can be done to help in said situation.

A bit off topic, I know, but definately wanted to clear my name so to speak of " cheating the system". No thanks.... Not me.


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## capt. david

way too many jr game wardens on here! anyway not blacktips imo they are atlantic sharpnose.


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## Aggie_Snowman'04

capt.sandbar said:


> Comon guys... Let's not beat the issue to death. Points have been made and acknowledged. It doesn't always have to turn into a debate on the minor technical issues.
> I'm glad you and your daughter caught a couple blacktips and a great red. Sounds like a great day!!


x3


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## monkeyman1

capt. david said:


> way too many jr game wardens on here! anyway not blacktips imo they are atlantic sharpnose.


An old thread...but the jr GW's never miss an opportunity.

Mont should add Jr GW badges beside their names...

The OP is probably history...


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## iwanashark

capt. david said:


> way too many jr game wardens on here! anyway not blacktips imo they are atlantic sharpnose.


 I agree. To many jr's gw. Nice catch bud!

Those are deff. black tips tho.


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## DRILHER

Spirt of the law. He's having a great day with his daughter and taking home something for supper. No harm no foul

BTW if you think blacktips are indanger go offshore you keep'em off your line at some rigs.


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## aggiemulletboy

DRILHER said:


> Spirt of the law. He's having a great day with his daughter and taking home something for supper. No harm no foul
> 
> BTW if you think blacktips are indanger go offshore you keep'em off your line at some rigs.


There is a big difference between berating someone for what they did versus telling them what the law is and helping to educate them. He didn't know about the law. At least good to inform people about it. How they choose to use and interpret it is up to them. And blacktips may not be at risk, but given the track record of people keeping sandbars and other shark species that are protected because they think they are blacktips, I think the law helps a little.


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## ol' salt

Question for shark fishermen: I was reading Billy Sandifer's article in Saltwater Fishing Mag for Jan, and he said the sharks are thick in the surf during the winter. Is that true?


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## Jolly Roger

ol' salt said:


> Question for shark fishermen: I was reading Billy Sandifer's article in Saltwater Fishing Mag for Jan, and he said the sharks are thick in the surf during the winter. Is that true?


Yes, in south Texas waters.

Not so for upper Texas coast.


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## dreamer

Nice catch! I love catchin them Bull Reds!!!


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## Fishin' Soldier

Also be informed that 28" is an over-sized red. 27 15/16" is not. Not really a big deal but just be aware so you don't get popped by a real game warden.


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## MIKE S.

Fishin' Soldier said:


> Also be informed that 28" is an over-sized red. 27 15/16" is not. Not really a big deal but just be aware so you don't get popped by a real game warden.


If the fish is over 28" it must be tagged, thats the way I read it..


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## Fishin' Soldier

MIKE S. said:


> If the fish is over 28" it must be tagged, thats the way I read it..


That sucks threw back a few fish slightly over 28". I have always thought it had to be over 20 and under 28


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## WVNative

One fish over 28" may be retained if tagged. Is how I think it reads or something there bouts.


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## ron

i believe the federal limit is 1 shark per BOAT. so if you have 1 texas shark dont go get a federal shark too. thats asking for trouble. as far as the original post i like to steak those little guys out and grill with butter,lemon pepper and a little tony's. looks like a great time with the kiddos and im jealous i wasnt there with ya.


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## Bigdaddy4360

It's all about possession unless they are watching :wink:


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## SurfRunner

NIce catch and experience........Don't worry about this catch being illegal or not. Be proud of it and don't let anyone make you feel guilty as to spoil your experience. It is obvious that you did not do anything wrong intentionally. Live and learn, then next time, do it right.


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## saltylady

*congrats on your catch looks like your little girl was a happy camper*
*by the way WELCOME to 2cool you will learn a lot on here *
* :an5:*


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## REELING 65

capt.sandbar said:


> Comon guys... Let's not beat the issue to death. Points have been made and acknowledged. It doesn't always have to turn into a debate on the minor technical issues.
> I'm glad you and your daughter caught a couple blacktips and a great red. Sounds like a great day!!


X2..Congrats!


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## mustangpfaff

It is supposed to be who catches them. I have 4 children and my wife pretty much anytime we go out so...just be reasonable and try to enjoy them. We cut the tail half way off from the top and hang them to bleed. Uric acid is retained if you dont. Basicly, thier waist stays in them if you dont. (pee) It is excreeted through the skin like sweat.


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## TroutHunter1

In my opinion you are fine, 2 fisherman, 2 sharks. A little gray area never hurt anyone, its the 20 per day guy that kills it for us. Glad to see someone is out there catching, and having fun with his son. Thats what it is all about.


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## flyfishingmike

The game warden would probably give you a ticket as you cannot catch fish for another person. Once you reach your limit . . . . . that's it.


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