Sharking Euphoria

It has been a long time since surf fishing has been stellar along the full length of the Texas coast. With Hurricane Harvey’s gloomy shroud hanging heavy last fall and the unusually cold winter that followed, anglers felt lost and without hope. Then came March, the famed kick-off month never really got out of the chute as fishing remained disappointingly quiet.

April brought welcome change with little or no rain and reasonable wind, and the fish began to arrive. Red drum and jack crevalle fancied the change. And bait, though somewhat scattered, showed in good variety and sharks made their appearance. Abundant blacktips at first, followed by a storm of bulls. Little did we know this would only be the start of something incredible.

Traditionally, making it through May without an onslaught of sargassum is seen as a good omen. Some years the weed is so thick we can hardly fish, other years the menace is almost completely absent. Mother Nature has been very kind this year.

As time passed, good water clarity brought in more baitfish and the predators followed. After a good run on bull sharks in April, I was hesitant to predict what might lie ahead. Alexis and I, along with shark buddy Scott, planned a trip during the first week of May. This timeframe always seems the tipping point for other large shark species to move in and we were eager to explore.

Alexis and I hit the PINS beach loaded down with prime bait and heavy tackle. Arriving at sunrise, we crept slowly down the beach keeping a sharp watch for activity. Down near the Big Shell area, we began seeing jack crevalle riding the waves, prowling through schools of mullet and menhaden. Where there are jackfish in numbers, the big sharks are not far behind.

We continued on until we found good sandbar and gut structure. With strong signs of feeding activity, I hurried to get baits rigged and deployed. I had a taker before getting the full spread out but missed the hook-up. An hour later another rod was hit and we hooked this one.

A moderate fight ensued and I got the fish to the beach. As suspected, it was a bull shark...a large bull shark. The mature female was taped and calculated to weigh nearly 300-pounds, possibly holding pups. Scott rolled into camp just then and assisted with the release. Action thus far had not disappointed.

Most anglers have their own way of fishing and with shark fishing I’m as meticulous as they come. I don't like to fish in crowds but, with that being said, Scott and I often camp together to be able to lend assistance to one another should the need arise. We’ve been doing this more than fifteen years. Typically, Scott will set up several hundred yards from my camp, running just a couple of baits. This method compliments our style of not oversaturating the water with shark bait.

Action continued throughout the day. Large blacktips were plentiful and Alexis and I both landed several respectable bulls. Our baits were fresh stingray, weighing around thirty-pounds each. These were prepared by stripping the wings and utilizing them along with the mid-section. The bite went bonkers just before dark with many baits struck but only one bull landed.

Then came nightfall. Nighttime is big shark time and there is no greater rush than waking to a large shark reel screaming in the darkness. This night though, Alexis and I passed a two hour lull relaxing in the truck and eating dinner.

Then, one by one, the rods started going off. We landed three big bull sharks in a short amount of time. Another calm set in and we had one bait still out; I decided to get some sleep. Just as I drifted off the 2-way radio blared. “Big fish on,” Scott’s voice echoed through the speaker.

I jumped up, grabbed my lights and camera, and strutted over to his camp. He had already been fighting the shark for about twenty minutes and had it turned and headed in. I waded out with the tail rope as Scott managed to wrestle it to the first bar. Securing the rope I realized Scott’s shark was a tiger – one of the first of the year.

With the hook removed, we set about to obtain and record measurements. With things going smoothly we snapped a few quick photos and made the release. While not a giant, it was still very respectable at nearly 9-feet. Celebrations and high-fives all around, I headed back to my camp.

Crawling back into bed I heard my last remaining rod go off. I hopped up on the truck and brought in another solid bull. The sharks were certainly around, and hungry.

Rising with the sun, I ran out new baits, this time deploying large ray sections. Instantly we got a hook up, another quality bull. I mentioned to Alexis that I felt as though I had become a bull shark magnet. Toward noon I set some smaller baits very shallow and all got blasted – but no hookups.

I knew the hammers had to be around and had baited a couple of short rods with whiting – a favorite of scalloped hammers. After a couple missed fished, I looked down to Scott’s camp just as he was getting hooked up and walked down to lend assistance. I grabbed the leader and, sure enough, he had a healthy scalloped hammerhead that we successfully tagged and released.

The wind picked up and the rest of the day was idled away with no takers. Scott packed up and headed home, Alexis and I decided to leave our baits out a little longer but no other sharks were hooked. And thus ended our adventure.

Several friends were encountered during the drive back up the beach and they also reported some very impressive landings, including tigers. One of our friends reported having landed a nine-foot lemon shark I had tagged and released a couple of weeks prior, remarkably only two miles from where I released it. This is some pretty interesting data that the research institute will utilize in their efforts to better understand shark movements on the PINS beach.

Within a week of this trip, countless tigers, hammers, and big bulls were landed off the beaches along the Texas coast. And, up until the writing of this article, we continue to land large sharks on my surf fishing charters. This truly is perhaps the best land-based shark fishing activity Texas anglers have experienced in many years. My, oh my; what does the rest of the summer hold for us?