Semi-live from gulf shores surf fishing

Have 1.5 days of fishing in, today the surf is really rough so I am not sure I am going to head out unless it calms some.

All surf fishing, no bay or offshore, not sure if I will head to the bay as I don’t really have easy access and have no boat for off shore. Fished with live shrimp yesterday, used frozen shrimp the day before when we arrived.

Catch so far:
Lots of lady fish
whiting
Spanish mackerel

Used one lady and the others for bait on the big pole which we (my son volunteered since he was first up for the fight) kayaked out beyond the second sand bar. Within 20 minutes had a big bite which almost took the pole into the ocean (oops, I had the drag set too high). Son got on it and felt something initially but it quickly went away. When we got the rig to shore two of the fish were gone with only the mackerel remaining. Some good bite marks on the hook. My son wanted to drop it again, so he went out on the yak again and dropped around the same spot. Hooked up within 10 minutes this time.

Smallish (4.5-5’) spinner shark was landed, pics, released safely. Overall a good exciting day.

That made up for losing two good sized sting rays we both fought for a while. Had both at the first set of waves and they just wouldn’t relent. Mine ended up ripped the hook out it’s mouth, as I just lost it but my tackle was all intact. My sons was lost at the terminal knot (I think) as all his was gone. He was pissed at me for trying to guide the ray face first into the shallows and accused me of pulling on the line. Either way, he was all happy camper when he landed the shark.

Will keep this running as the week progresses.

I learned too late that the smacks are delicious. Never tried a skip jack. Fun to catch.

Here’s the shark. The rest were just bait for this guy

I've eaten shark.

Hey, doc....

Are you sure that is not a nurse shark you are riding?

Did it bite your sons face

Y'all have fun

In case anyone wants to know, my wife is a nurse, and can be a shark sometimes too

No really tho, she is a nurse...take that for what it’s worth.

Im gonna cut you some slack on posting fishing on a hunting forum since you are a hunter. Of course this is OT, so theres that....

FR, you don’t understand....I am a deer hunter, a pig hunter, soon to be an elk hunter, but also a Shark Hunter....

I fish for bait for sharks. They are fun to catch

Good times. Keep the updates coming!

Did ya have a Beer with it?

I like beer.

I once read a book called unbroken. It was supposed to be a true story. I had my doubts after they. Caught a shark and threw my of it back..

Here you go. I looked it up for you.

Don't tell me, you met her in residency?

That movie is to new for me. I don't care for most anything they make anymore I can't say I've seen any movie all the way through in 10 years or more I'll pull the tape, turn it off or change the channel.

He was a true war hero. He was captured by the the Japanese and put in prison. He was offered a hotel and and food if he would do a daily radio show similar to Tokyo Rose He refused and stayed in prison. Watch the trailer.

You may already know, but whiting is great eating. I spent years only throwing them back or using them for bait because I was told they were trash fish. I had someone tell me about 20 years ago they were good to eat so I kept some and tried it. They have been one of my target fish in the surf ever since. As long as they are big enough to fillet, they go in the freezer.

I looked it up for you. Don't catching any.


http://www.floridashorefishing.com/fish-profiles/whiting

I did, I'm Proud for him the movies of today don't hold my attention.. I guess it has a lot to do with my dislike for so many in the movie biz now days I don't and wont watch it's my way of saying "Forget You"...

Read the book, much better than the movie anyway. Unbroken, same name as the movie. Great book and fascinating story about a great man and a greater Man. The movie really passes by the more important parts of his life, and his life after the war which really saved his life.

No on the school bus when I was in 8th grade actually....didn’t start dating till I was a junior in HS but good friends all the way up to that point. In my residency program 4/5 were married and still married to this day....really unusual for most residency programs where some actually used to tout a divorce rate....

Yep.

"As the bullets raked overhead, Louie struggled to stay under the rafts. The current clutched at him, rotating his body horizontally and dragging him away. He kicked against it, but it was no use. He was being sucked way, and he knew that if he lost touch with the rafts, he wouldn’t be able to swim hard enough against the current to get back. As he was pulled loose, he saw the long cord that strayed off the end of one of the rafts. He grabbed it and tied it around his waist.
As he lay underwater, his legs tugged in front of him by the current, Louie looked down at his feet. His left sock was pulled up on his shin; his right had slipped halfway off. He watched it flap in the current. Then, in the murky blur beyond it, he saw the huge, gaping mouth of a shark emerge out of the darkness and rush straight at his legs.
Louie recoiled, pulling his legs toward his body. The current was too strong for him to get his legs beneath him, but he was able to swim them to the side, away from the shark’s mouth. The shark kept coming, directly at Louie’s head. Louie remembered the advice of the old man in Honolulu: Make a threatening expression, then stiff-arm the shark’s snout. As the shark lunged for his head, Louie bared his teeth, widened his eyes, and rammed his palm into the tip of the shark’s nose. The shark flinched, circled away, then swam back for a second pass. Louie waited until the shark was inches from him, then struck it in the nose again. Again, the shark peeled away.
Above, the bullets had stopped coming. As quickly as he could, Louie pulled himself along the cord until he reached the raft. He grabbed its wall and lifted himself clear of the shark.
Mac and Phil were lying together in the fetal position. They were absolutely still, and bullet holes dappled the raft around them. Louie shook Mac. Mac made a sound. Louie asked if he’d been hit. Mac said no. Louie spoke to Phil. Phil said he was okay.
The bomber circled back for another go. Phil and Mac played dead, and Louie tipped back into the ocean. As bullets knifed the water around him, the shark came at him, and again Louie bumped its snout and repelled it. Then a second shark charged at him. Louie hung there, gyrating in the water and flailing his arms and legs, as the sharks snapped at him and bullets came down. The moment the bomber sped out of firing range, he clambered onto the raft again. Phil and Mac were still unhit..."

Surf is still super rough, tried but within a couple casts just gave up as my bait was in the wash within seconds it seemed.

Went over to the bay for some wade fishing. Had some trout jumping but no bites. Not sure the bait of frozen shrimp was the best offering but it’s all I had today. Not gonna but live stuff when the utility of using it was so low.

Hoping the current and the swells are less tomorrow, it’s supposed to be. Only a couple more days left of shark week

That’s a good eating shark you had there, one of my favorite eating species. Excellent steaked out and on the grill, marinated and pan seared, or in a couvillion.

Good luck to you guys!

Wait a sec, pics like that don't count.

Green to the beach here.

Surprising that Angelina Jolie directed Unbroken; not a bad flick...

Huh?

^^^she left out much of the pivotal part of the book, mainly that God saved Louis and his turning back to God saved him again after the war. It was glossed over initially and then almost ignored after the war.

Could have been a Much more powerful movie and followed the book better had they done it the way it actually happened.

Morning fishing is over, it’s raining now. Hoping things calm down after the rain rolls through.
Have Bull minnows and live shrimp today, hoping to catch some good stuff in the afternoon we can use for bait again. If we catch enough, we can eat some too.
Fished about 1.5 hrs this am without a bite. Not very active out there right now

Good luck, catch em up.

keep reports coming, even if this is a "hunting" forum.

Thanks again for posting. I've started several threads on TFF about eating your bait. Love salt water.

Hand grenades always work, maybe depth charges since this is ocean fishing.

Crank telephone too.

Back on the water for a quick interlude between rain and storms, got my first speck trout. Bull minnow. Hope I can get more fishing in today. Water is calmest it’s been for the week but the sky is the worst it’s been all week, can’t win for losing.

Anyway, got some food for tonight. Hope for some more and some
Bait fish too

Is a bull minner similar to a croaker?

Bill, I really don’t know what a bull minnow is, but it is different from a croaker that’s for sure. they survive pretty well in the ocean though. Can’t say they catch things well, but I think the problem is lack of fish and not bait or presentation. In years past we had no trouble catching fish, mostly hard heads, but this year we struggle even to catch those.


Evening report, caught one hard head to go with the speck trout from earlier, and that was it for the light tackle. Since we had no other bait, we used the speck for shark bait. Yes I know that’s blasphemy, but remember I am Shark hunting on this trip so the priority is shark fishing and not sustenance.

Dropped the bait, and had to wait a little while tonight, but eventually the reel started screaming. Hooked up and landed a whopper 3’ spinner. For a while I wasn’t even sure anything was on the line. It was a spectacle for the beach though, we had a quick crowd and many kids got to touch a live shark. Overall success, albeit a “spike” type success.

Two more days. I sure hope the fishing gets better

Look on the bright side, you could be working.

Afternoon update...it’s a lot easier and a guarantee to buy shark bait at local fish stores than to try and catch non-existent fish....no really I got a boat load of whole fish for like 21 bucks today, will make for a lot of shark bait.

I know it is more satisfying to catch your own bait, but dang the fishing has been hard this week. Caught a whiting and a lady fish today, and that was it. Not very good work on my end, but the fish just aren’t out there and I don’t know why.

So we dropped some shark bait early today, got a bite but it took the tail right off the bait. So we dropped it again, and this time we landed a decent 4.5-5’ spinner shark. Seems that is all we can find out there, but we will drop more bait this evening and see if we can’t get a different species.

"I know it is more satisfying to catch your own bait"
i dont fish much so i dont know about that, but when i kill a buck the satisfaction is proportionate to the amount of work i put in.
Trying to help you out so they dont kick this thread into TFF. Have fun, keep posting and be safe.

Tenacity.

Buy the extra large bait, it is easier to clean when you don't catch anything.

You can take it to the bank especially if you throw a cast-net the way I do. Mine always look like a taco.

Evening update: some fisherman close by caught a sting ray so we asked them for it, put it out for bait. We have had good success with rays in the past, tho this one was much bigger than the ones we had in the past. First soak we got bit up really good but somehow the shark missed the hook.
I took it out again and got a good hook up, pulled heavy and was peeling drag. Then for whatever reason the hook pulled. I have a feeling I didn’t have the shark hooked through the jaw but maybe in the soft of the mouth or something. Sure wish I could have landed that one, felt much bigger than any of the others we have caught. Hard to say.

Anyway, we have another sting ray for tomorrow and some of the fish I bought. Gonna spend all day on the shark line tomorrow, last day for hunting.

Good news is we have had bites on every drop so far. Some of the bites have been partial and the one I had where the hook pulled, but we have had action with the shark pole.

Thanks a bunch for posting.

Good luck!

Morning update, dropped bait and waited, finally got a bite after about an hour and 15 minutes. Got the rod in the harnesss and dropped the drag some to set the hook, it was there and then the line broke...braid must have been weakened from a couple years worth of being in the sand bars?

Anyway, have about 250-300 yards still on the reel. Gonna tie up another leader and try again hopefully a couple more times. Bummer the set up has failed twice in a row now. Last night it wasn’t really a gear failure but still didn’t hold the hook. Today was pure gear failure.

There is always next time.

Spanish Mackeral can and has cut the line in a July minute..

ok, so school a non fisherman here. Did you mean to put quotation marks on the "hunting' remark to emphasis ive been giving a deer hunter a hard time posting about "fishing", OR is shark fishing REALLY called shark hunting???

FR, I put the quotes around the hunting because it really is a fishing story in a hunting forum. However, I consider myself a fisherman and a shark hunter

Once you get that line screaming and fee the tug of a shark on the end of the line it is almost as good as the feeling of getting a good deer down. Now if I could only be successful in landing a big one....

That's the worst! I hate losing a big tug on the line. Then you just sit there wondering what it was...... I hate seeing the guys that fish tuna for a living. They fight it for hours, only to lose it at the boat..... heartbreaking to see them lose a paycheck like that. I'm just glad I fish for fun.

Good luck buckeye.

Another gear failure. Went out and had a tackle shop spin on some mono over the braid I have, and brought it back to the house and had it soaking for a good while. All the sudden the line went loose and all the mono is gone. Not sure if it was another weak spot or if the mono-braid knot came loose or what. For 4 bucks I can’t complain. Just glad I didn’t have a fish on.

One more shot. Gonna tie on straight to the mono tonight and put a ray on, hope we can hook up quick because I am seriously worried if the braid rubs too much on the sand it will break off again.... wish us luck!

I wish you luck.

Nothin like rearing back into 6-10 feet of pure muscle and aggression!


Good luck this evening, I replace my braid once a year and topshot every 4-6 weekends of use.

Me thinks I shoulda done did this....honestly I use the rod and reel so infrequently I just didn’t think it would be bad this year, but experience is telling me otherwise. Hope there is one more in the braid tonight. Gonna try to lay up on the second sand bar and see what happens.

Post pics of your shark rig, I'm curious. The only shark I've ever caught was a small two footer.

Does salt water affect braid somehow? In freshwater, you can use braid for years (basically until I run low on it, since it has no memory). That’s one of the advantages.

We caught those very frequently on our trout rods, makes for a good fight. We will have to invite you on a big shark weekend to Galveston, Freeport, or Sargent.

Good luck...enjoying the reports!

Saltwater by itself doesn’t do much to the braid, but when surf fishing the braid can rub on the sand bars and it can become weakened over time. When shark fishing you try to go out at least past the second sand bar, so there is a lot of chance for abrasions on the braid.

Ok final report, no good news. Put out the second sting ray and let it soak for a coupe hours tonight....not a bite. Waves were rough, dumped the kayak on the way out, that was fun. Not sharing that video. But got the bait just pst second sand bar and it just never attracted a shark. Weird, rays have always been money. Maybe they just like the fresher?

Anyway, a good start and a disappointing finish. Had several bites that didn’t get hooked, had one bite that hooked and broke line, another where the hook pulled out, and another where the line just broke. But got three sharks so that is a new record for a week trip.

Overall fun, like a game of golf, you always get that one shot that makes you want to come back and play again.

Any rioting in downtown Orange Beach?

Nah, but I haven’t been on that side of the beach so I wouldn’t really know.

There were three people that died here in GS this week, sad deal. We saw the coast guard heli doing a grid search the day they went missing. Sad deal. Current was rough earlier in the week. Surf has been hit or miss the whole week. Still a good week off work. But back to the grind now.

If you drove. Stop by buccees in Alabama on the way back and get you some crimson tide memorabilia.

Lol

Nothing is absolute, but I have found over the years that fresh bait tends to work better most of the time. Sounds like you had a great week regardless.

DRIVE SAFE. And what about the wife and girls--no shopping reports? or sightseeing or restaurants?

I needed some fire starters so got some Alabama tshirts and banners. They should soak well in kerosene and start a good fire