slow motion
Senior Member
Put in at the lighthouse ramp Thursday morning around 6:30. The parking lot was empty as were the flats. pretty smooth conditions. Other than a couple of boats heading offshore the ocean was mine and the fish's until 9 or so and even then only one or two others. Started out drifting the west flats. While the action wasn't fast and furious like late spring it was steady enough. I like to fish a popping cork with live shrimp and freeline a live pinfish on another rod. Managed to pick up a fat 20" trout before the sharks got the rest of the pinfish. After being unable to hook another pin I put a 15" ladyfish out. Always hope for a cobia or tarpon. After awhile I start to notice the dorsal and tailfin of a shark about 75 yards behind the boat. Not jaws by any means but still 3 1/2' to 4' from dorsal to tailfin. Had to look for the ladyfish and realized it was now in front of the boat leading the drift across the flats. Later I see the fins gliding across the surface again this time the bait is also behind the boat. I twitch the rod trying to get the bait to the surface but the next time the fins surface they are 20 yards further and heading away. Oh well. Back to the popping cork and boating a few more trout, ladyfish, and of course the ever present hardheads and snotcats (sailcats). The fins continue to stalk the boat, pretty cool but causing me to be a little distracted and miss a few fish on the other rod. Then the fins are back. I grab the rod and put some pressure on the bait. Shark and bait are about 60 feet behind the boat when the tailfin of the shark starts to thrash as the shark suddenly accelerates. A second later the water erupts as shark and bait finally meet up. I have the drag set really loose to allow the fish to take the bait while not noticing any resistance and the drag starts to click. Count to 15 then start to tighten and let the circle hook do its job. After a few seconds of no resistance the fish now knows something is wrong and the drag starts to scream. The shark is headed to St. Marks and in a hurry. Losing line fast another click on the drag. Not slowing down, another click. Seems to be getting faster. Have now decided the shark has a reservation at Riverside Cafe and doesn't intend to be late. Another click or two to no avail. He has to be almost to Riverside by now. Two more clicks starting to slow and it's a good thing because my spool is near empty. Then with what felt like a head shake the line went limp. I reel as fast as I can in case he just turned back but I knew it was over. As I got the rest of my line back I saw the floro leader was bitten into. Still smiling, and a bit relieved as the aspect of unhooking the fellow at boatside by yourself is a bit of a daunting task. On to the east flats to finish out my limit of trout. All by 11:30. Friday, my actual birthday, had one other truck at the lighthouse and while a few more boats still very peaceful. Not as eventful as Thursday. Only caught a couple slot trout, had a few sharks, and the usual suspects of the flats including lizardfish and a couple baby grouper. All in all one of my better birthdays.
