Thursday Afternoon
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 5:49 pm
Finally had some free time and the weather was looking to be just about perfect. Topped off the gas tanks, packed some Doritos for Sammie, and loaded up the barge with a couple friends. Our last trip out my buddy caught a small black tip shark so he was eager to try to catch a bigger one. We cruised out a mile or two and stopped to catch some bait fish. We tossed out some small pieces of squid and had a few pinfish and squirrl fish in the bait tank shortly. Then we motored to the pass between Anclote Key and the sandbar. Tail hooked a couple pinfish and sank 'em to the bottom. Didn't get any bites so we headed inside the Key. Watched a lot of mullet jumping near the mangroves, but struck out again. We decided to cruise out to the flats and drift a little. My pinfish was still alive and kicking so I freelined him about 50 feet behind the boat. After about 10min my rod jerked down quickly and then went limp. I started to reel in slowly and watched a small shark circle the remaining half of the pinfish. I cast it back out and wham...a 20" Spanish took the hook. Brought him on the barge and quickly put out some more bait. A few minutes later my reel starts screaming! Fought for about 5 min and finally landed a Atlantic Sharpnose. I thought I was going to lose him when he swam under the boat. My hull is overdue for a cleaning, and I thought the barnacles would cut the line. Luckily, my 20# braid held strong. All in all had a great time out on the water. Here are a few pics.
