For the past MONTH fishing has been, to say the least, horrible. I couldn't catch any Pompano or Whiting, and could barely hook a few Bluefish for bait. It was extremely slow after the big storm that came through and completely chopped up the surf. It wasn't until this recent front did things pick back up finally. I'm even beginning to see small schools of mullet near the shoreline finally.
Tuesday I went out to Highbridge beach access close to the Volusia/Flagler county line and set up a 4 rod spread, 2 bait rigs and 2 Penn Senator 6/0's rigged for shark. I even brought down my 12/0 due to before the huge fishing draught hooking up to a 200+ Bull Shark on my 6/0 which was set up for Average Sized Blacktips and having the most hellacious time fighting it. After over 2 hrs of fighting it on 50 lb Test it finally snapped THE HOOK in half. Needless to say, I've never been so disappointed.
So I had my 4 rod spread and I was fishing the outgoing tide in the middle of the day. I caught a few nice sized Bluefish that I then hooked up to the Senators and Swam them out to the center of the trough. The beach in this location is nice due to there being a good solid drop before the sandbar so I rarely take them further. After having the baits out for around 2 hours, finally I was getting pickups. Twice I failed to get a solid hook set and began to get frustrated. I swam out a fresh Bluefish anchored by a brick and waited only 2 minutes when it got picked up yet again. I let it run, slung the rod over my shoulder andwhipped the rod back as hard as I could 3 times. It finally sunk in and I strapped on my harness for what would turn out to be a 45 minute fight. I knew it was big from the fight, close to 6 feet was my guess. When it began to get tired I handed my rod to a tourist on the beach and ran out into the water to drag him in. It wasnt until I was in the water did I realize this wasn't an average sized Blacktip. I grabbed the thick tail and fought against its thrashing as I muscled him up the beach. That was when I saw the grand scheme of its size.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us6ft, 5in. 147lbs - Tagged and released
Thats my new personal best Blacktip, and an experience never to be forgotten. However, since then fishing has once again come to a stand still. It's back to wet lines and no fish.
