# Mustang Island Report



## TRAVO (May 29, 2008)

Sorry it took me so long to get this up. I had to figure out how to resize pics.

Anyway, we headed out of Austin on Thursday and arrived at our rv site late after a long arse drive so we just decided to take in some beverages out on the surf while watching the waves roll in. The wind wasn't too bad so we were hoping that this would be a good trip. Friday morning we wake up and head out to catch some bait but after half an hour and no luck I decided to grab my cast net. I wait until I see some movement and I let her fly......score, 10 horse mullet waiting to be hooked. We bait up and send out the 3/0, then the 4/0, and then the 6/0, along with a couple of casted baits. The surf was really small so took the 6 about 400 yards out and progressively shorter on the rest. We get one good run on the 4 but didn't get the hook up. Bummer. After several more hours of fishing we decide to move but as we are reeling in lines my 3/0 gets hit. Obviously something small with the lack of fight in it and it turns out to be a 34" shark (sand??, help me out here. I'm new to this.) Pretty much no luck for the rest of the day other than some hardheads and nothing that night either. Saturday morning we decide to take the boat out and hit the blue water because the weather was so nice. We set out 3 boat rods and start trolling some big Rapala lures. We trolled for about an hour before I found some birds working so we skirted around them and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, a nice King. We kept at this most of the day and just kept chasing the birds. We end up with 5 Kings, a hog-leg Jack, and a good sized skipjack tuna. Even the girls got involved but we ended up *leaving them biting* after Brandy started feeling sick. BTW the seas were about 1-2 with an occasional 3.....beautiful. Then on Sunday we decided to hit the bay in the yaks but we didn't get out there until 10 probably due to the excessive amout of fun we had the night before, oops. We had a hard time catching anything but a buzz that day too; however I did manage a couple of nice reds and a case of the crabs, lol. That night we put out the big boys again hoping to bring in some sharks. We had great bait thanks to the Jack and the Tuna from the day before. We yakked out 6 rods just before dark and they all set up nicely. After about an hour we started to notice some slack in the 4/0 and we noticed the weed rolling in. D#*n! It started getting thick on us and eventually ruined all of our lines. That **** gets thick and it kills the fishing, but we did get a good amount of alcohol in us. We ended up getting my bro's Dodge stuck in the sand right at the water but luckily we had the 4 wheeler so I could get to my truck in a hurry to pull him out. Monday morning sucked because we had to clean our sh.. up and get back home. We were all way to tired to get anymore lines out.

All in all it was a great trip. I wish we could have spent more time on the beach but the ocean was so calm that we had to go out. It was my first time being the skipper out in the blue water in my new (but used) boat and we had a blast. Next time we are going to go strictly for the shark fishing. This was a great learning experience for shark fishing (1st time as well) and I never realized that just getting the baits set was such a chore. It takes a lot of work and next time we'll be even better at it. Thanks for the help JD and everyone else that I've learned from. Everything worked really well. Good luck and Tight Lines fellas.

I'm out.

Travo


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## TRAVO (May 29, 2008)

*mas photos*

here are the rest


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## TRAVO (May 29, 2008)

*BTW*

We were about 5 miles off shore


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## The Machine (Jun 4, 2007)

water looks great


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## great white fisherman (Jun 24, 2008)

FYI, that is a bonita and not a skip jack tuna. Nice pictures and you had fun that is all that matters. Keep a tight line.


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## 535 (May 23, 2004)

looks like a blast! also, that bonita is excellent shark bait... even if you eat it save the head... last weekend there was an 8' scalloped hammerhead caught on bonita at PINS


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## TRAVO (May 29, 2008)

*Learn something new every day*

When we were in Puerto Vallarta a couple years ago, those bonita were called skipjack tuna, I guess they're different around here. We would troll them live.


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## TRAVO (May 29, 2008)

*BTW*

Before all you haters get on me, that shark was released and swam away like a champ.


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## 535 (May 23, 2004)

haha, it was a perfect eater too... good job on the release


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## lunkerbrad (Feb 17, 2007)

good trip man .







how big on the yellow fin tuna.


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## TRAVO (May 29, 2008)

*3*

My brothers and I each caught one. My brothers both kept theirs and we released mine. Theirs weighed 250# and 274#. Mine was estimated (by the guide) at 290#. That is the hardest fighting fish in the sea if you ask me. They go straight for the bottom.


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## 535 (May 23, 2004)

amazing fish... how deep were you guys fishing and how long did it take to land???


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## TRAVO (May 29, 2008)

There is a shelf about 18 miles off shore around a rock that sticks up out of the sea. We were fishing right on the surface really, but probably to a depth of up to 10 feet due to the bonita we were trolling with. The bait is actually TIED to the line and it free swims behind the boat and trolled at a decent pace. They are NOT hooked, which keeps them really lively. Each one took upwards of 2 hours to bring in and it is a brutal fight. That shelf drops from 60 to about 300 feet in nothing flat. Catch of a lifetime really. They (guide) hadn't caught any cows all year, but on our last day out we tripled up on them. It was amazing to see how our luck turned because we hadn't really seen any life out there until that last day and then there were fish jumping out of the water all around us. I'm talking about schools of 100-300# tuna jumping 1-2 feet out of the water. It was crazy.


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## JD761 (Jun 7, 2006)

Good stuff Travis!


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