# Matagorda Sharkathon Pregame Report



## jagarcia10 (Mar 10, 2011)

With Sharkathon approaching I wanted to get out and test my gear down in Matagorda. Nick and Ryan were going to be down there so the plan was to meet up with them later on during the day. Stopped at the bait shop and picked up a huge 30-40lb cow nose ray. I brought 3 rays that i was going to use this weekend. One 15lb and two small dinner plate sized rays. The big one i just bought was going in the freezer for Sharkathon. I arrived Friday morning to a good looking surf.











Stop to throw the bait rod out for an hour or so. Managed a few whiting but didn't see much bait in the surf so I made my way down to Mitchells Cut. Wasn't aware that Matagorda had a nude beach.











Once I got to the cut, mullet was easy to come by.











Headed back down the beach to a spot that looked promising. Ran two baits out, a whole whiting and a cow nose. 











It was getting hot so I took out the ez-up and ate lunch. Ryan showed up soon after that. We were just bs'n drinking a beer and talking about the game plan. I don't think we finished that beer before the whiting got pick up. Brought this nice 4' black tip in pretty quick. Wasn't much of a fighter till i was trying to take out the hook out. This would be the first shark to really mess me up by giving me shark rash. ( You can see some blood on my right ankle.)




















Ryan takes off in search of some fresh bait. Meanwhile, I catch a few more whiting and run one out. Not long after the drop there is a fish on! Didn't feel like setting up the tripod so I just snapped a quick pick an released it. A little bigger than the first black tip measuring at about 4.5'. 











After releasing this one I reel in the cow nose that had been sitting out there for a while. As expected, nothing on the hook. I chill out from kayaking baits out for a little while to try to get on some reds. Nothing but big gaftops were hitting casted baits. Ryan shows back up but was unsuccessful at getting some bait. We kick back for a while and wait on Nick and his girl to show up. Just before sunset they come rolling down the beach. Nick runs out a couple of baits with the intention of getting his girl on a toothy! I run out the two rays that i had left along with another whiting.




















to be continuted in 2 mins...


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## jagarcia10 (Mar 10, 2011)

Not long after all the baits are dropped I get a good run but didn't feel anything on it when I got to it. ****! Oh well, I decided to leave it out and see what happens. Meanwhile, Nick's girl is hooked onto something that's taking them up the beach. I go to my truck to get the camera but when I return the fish is off. We try to explain to her that it happens all the time and not to feel bad. As I'm putting the camera back in my truck I notice that my line was slack on the reel that had a run earlier. I reel it in and feel something on the end of it. After a good 10 min battle we land this solid 5' bull. This bull did some work on my already bleeding shark rash. Nick heard another reel go off so i ran back to see which one it was while he released it. Took a while but he got it released successfully.

















　
Later on in the night my 9/0 with the 15lb ray on it would get broken off. Ryan see's my float wash up about 200 yards down the beach but when we go to inspect the leader isn't there. That sucks... That only leaves me with one reel out for the rest of the night. Nick gets another solid run on casted bait but not long into the fight the line snapped above the leader. SOB!!! That would be it for the night. We made some dinner, drank some beer and crashed out.
　
Saturday morning Nick gives it one last effort to get his girl a shark before they have to leave but it just wasn't her day. They head off the beach leaving me and Ryan to do some work. I ran out a couple more whiting to start out the day. When I got back I noticed there were mullet coming through. Went and cast netted a few to get us started. I told Ryan that this was going to get us our reds and sure enough once the bait hit the water, BAM! I land a nice 28" red. Since the bite was fast I opted not to take a pic and get another bait in the water. Casted a second time and had a fish on almost instantly. This time it would be a pup shark. Got him released and casted again and got a nice 19" spec! That was short lived because soon after the acrobatic pup sharks would reek havoc the rest of the day. Ryan ended up getting 4 reds. Two of them keepers and two rats. Sorry no pics of the reds...









　
After lunch we just chilled out and had a few cold ones waiting for the long rods to go off. Finally the rod that's had most of the action takes off screaming! I hop up on the rack and tighten down on the drag. Fish on!









 
The fish was coming straight at me so it wasn't much of a fight until it reached the first sand bar. Made a few good runs before i got it over into the wade gut. I didn't see a dorsal fin so i suspected a bull red. Well, I was wrong. Turned out to be a freaking string ray! I didn't notice it till I was in the wade gut with it. I **** near fell down trying to get out of the water. Looked to be about 4' wide. Unfortunately as I was trying to bring it in the hook came out.

















　
　
Things settled down till that evening. The surf still looked good but the green water hand moved out a little. Caught a good size skip jack and sent him out on the Sealine sha50. Wanted to see if it can live up to my expectations since I have 2 of them.


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## jagarcia10 (Mar 10, 2011)

Didn't take long for the skip jack to get picked up. I get up on the rack tighten the drag then hand it off to Ryan. Ryan brings it in while i go out and leader the shark. Another nice 5' bull. His PB. Congrats!









 








 









This parasitic fish that was on the bull.









 









　
I put my shark rash guards on this time to get the hook out. Ryan successfully releases the shark.









 







　
While making dinner later on that night my 6/0 goes slack. I get up on the rack and feel something small on the other end of it. I go ahead and reel it and when I got out to leader the fish in the wade gut it breaks loose. With my head light on I can see the dorsal fin slowly swimming away. So I just did what "most" of us would have done and grabbed its tail. Small shark but still funny that I had to grab it by the tail.









 








　
I usually put one of these on my dog in case he chases a raccoon or if a coyote get a hold of him I can see him.










To be continued in 2 mins...


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## jagarcia10 (Mar 10, 2011)

Sunday morning we woke up to cool weather and a different surf. Didn't really like the fact that this boat was running so close to shore. Good thing my line had broke off during the night. The swells had picked up and the current switched. It had been running north all weekend and now it was running south. I through out some cut skip jack in hopes for some reds but the pup sharks were still in full force. They didn't care if the bait wouldn't fit in their mouths they were still going to try to eat it.




















　
My 9/0 had broke off in the night but we were still able to locate the float. As I punch through the swells and get to my float I feel some weight on it. When I bring it up the kayak there is a shark on! Didn't' really move much so I decided to tow it in. Probably not very smart to troll a shark but it wasn't moving and I wanted my leader back. When I get to the beach I realize why it wasn't moving... Probably would have been around 5.5" long if it had a tail. 










　










Although I didn't run any big baits out I did get to see what my smaller surfs reels were capable of it still turned out to be a good weekend. Looks like I need to re-spool some reels, make some new leaders and try to get some lights on the rack. Thanks to Ryan and Nick for coming out. Saw Nick going back for revenge when I was leaving the beach Sunday. I'm sure he got his payback!


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## surfguy (May 17, 2011)

Heck of a nice report! Good luck in sharkathon :shamrock:


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## jagarcia10 (Mar 10, 2011)

Thanks, looks like you had a good weekend as well.


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## HuntinforTail (Mar 29, 2011)

Great report! I'm surprised you havent gotten more comments! I'm stuck up here in Philly and that makes me wish I was on the sand! It looks like y'all had non stop action. 

BTW those remoras that suck to the sharks aren't parasitic. They jus hitch a ride and pick up any scraps the shark drops. 

We got to meet up on the beach sometime. 

I'm having my bachelors party next weekend on crystal beach. We are going to fish the whole weekend. Hopefully I'll have a good report for y'all.


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## rubberducky (Mar 19, 2010)

That's an awesome report!!! Makes me want to go fishing dang the weather lol.
James


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk because Reeltime told me to


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## jagarcia10 (Mar 10, 2011)

HuntinforTail said:


> Great report! I'm surprised you havent gotten more comments! I'm stuck up here in Philly and that makes me wish I was on the sand! It looks like y'all had non stop action.
> 
> BTW those remoras that suck to the sharks aren't parasitic. They jus hitch a ride and pick up any scraps the shark drops.
> 
> ...


Thanks, I just assumed the "remoras" were parasitic. They are pretty cool looking. Im sure you guys will have a blast for your bachelor party! The fishing is heating up.


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