Report submitted by 'Oz'

PINS Surf/Kayaking Report Padre Island National Seashore, TX July 17th, 2004 Tweet

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Yakmon and I headed down and hit the beach close to 12am Saturday morning and eventually met up with Curmit, Frenzy, Shindle, Repofish, Mr. Champ, Skipjack and Co. Didn't take long to get a few hours of sleep before waking up to the yet rising sun. Curmit stayed up the night and fished catching I believe a few skipjack. As the sun was coming up, birds were working the anchovies out a couple hundred yards so Yakmon and I decided to yak out and catch some Spanish. Wasn't long before Yakmon was hooked up and just like that we were slamming the Mackerel.

Yakmon bags the first couple Spanish and then we both get into them thick. As Yakmon brings up a Spanish, he has a 6' shark, likely Blacktip follow it up. That was the only shark we saw from the yak this trip. After paddling a couple miles and close to a dozen Spanish later, the birds disappear and another mile or two we relocate a school of fish way out boiling the water. As we get closer we could see they were Atlantic Bonito.. and big ones. We must have thrown several dozen times before I finally hook up on one of these mini-tuna-trains. After fighting and us being dragged around in the yak for several minutes, I had whooped him on a Curado.. as Yakmon is ready to gaff the fish dives straight below the yak and spits the hook. DOH! Anyhow, after seeing several up close, we estimate it was between 10-15lb and larger ones probably mixed in the school. At that point we had been in the yak for close to 3 or 4 hours and decided to head back in. As we get closer we see Frenzy in the kayak fish aswell. Upon further inspection we see him getting dragged around by a fish. He lands it and paddles over and with a grin on his face he shows us a nice King.

We all head back to shore to get some late breakfast and rest for a bit. Skipjack shows me the Butterfly Ray her caught earlier.. the first one I have seen down there. We do our things and get back to the fishing action. Yakmon gets his spearfishing gear to try his luck at the end of the Mansfield jetties and I grab my 555 and Ribbonfish that Repofish was kind enough to give me (thanks man!). We get out there and I drop him off and proceed to drift Ribbon fish from the Kayak. About a couple minutes into the drift the rod goes off and I am hooked on a King. Fight her for a couple hundred yards then get her in.

The Kings would only get bigger from this point on. I make a couple more passes and got 2 misses. The last Ribbonfish I had with me got bit in half. I take my snips and make a 1 hook rig and put the remaining portion of the ribbonfish on. Sure enough after another pass in the blue water it gets nailed and I am hooked up again getting towed around. As the fish skims and slices the surface, I get in another King and head in.

On the way in I end up seeing Yakmon at the end doing fairly well with the Mangrove Snapper. Frenzy, Curmit, and Skipjack decide to go north and shark fish while Yakmon, Michael, Repofish, and I stay to attempt to stay into the action. Michael and I head out to the end of the jetties to see if we can get some Kings with some lures. Just as we thought then action had stopped, Michael hooks up on a blazing King that hit hard.

After fighting for several seconds it spits the hook. Although he lost that King, he already landed a nice slot Red and Mangrove Snapper. I notice that while the birds weren't working there however were Kings jumping and even some seen jumping with ribbonfish in their mouths. Later in the afternoon I couldn't take it anymore and had to get back in the yak. Got some ribbonfish from Repo and headed out. The wind and surf was picking up but still manageable. I get out and guess where the Kings are holding and make a drift with the yak. Once again after a few minutes the reel goes off and I grab the rod from the rodholder. Get in another nice King.

Take another Ribbon and fight the south wind to head back up current. Finally get up there and start my last drift. After several minutes and several hundred yards I get hooked up on a screamer.. this fish was the biggest King yet and fought with a vengeance. After about 10min I get her in and stuck her with the gaff. Headed in for the long journey back to shore and finally get in with my catch.

This was shaping up to be an exceptional day for those who stayed.. but it wasn't over yet. Although the action died down for a few hours we stuck with it. Michael and I floated live mullet anda ribbon off the end of the jetties but there was no action. After almost 2 hours we head back to gear up for a secret Snook mission. After we get back in we find a weird and beautiful creature swimming the low tide. We find a small but brilliantly colored Sea Robbin.

Another buddy of mine Jason Slocum shows up to Trout fish and later finds another Butterfly Ray over the sandbar. He was able to capture it and asked if we wanted it for bait. We had brought a plentiful supply of shark bait and really at this point no intention of shark fishing so we let him release it. As the was ending and the sun going down, we hit up our secret snook spot. Yakmon, Michael, and I headed out and after several mishookups, Michael lands the first Snook (Fat Snook). While I thought perhaps it were possibly a Swordspine Snook, later investigation proved that it was indeed a Fat Snook. Michael releases the beautiful fish and a couple minutes later Yakmon jumps a Tarpon. The bite was on and after repeated attempts it was my turn and I found them. I finally land and release a small Snook.

Getting dark Yakmon and Michael head back to the camp and as the start walking I land another Snook.. a couple inches bigger than the first. I release it and the bite is probably at its peak. I lose a couple lures and changed to a Storm to try for some Trout. I get several hits before I get hooked up again. Get the fish in and it wasn't a Trout, but a rather rugged Mangrove Snapper.

After the Mangrove Snapper I continue to stay by myself and continue to get hits. I once again hookup and land another Snook.. this one little bigger and probably 18".. not a monster but my 3rd Snook of the day. Released it and cast again and finally hookup and land a Trout. After that I lost the last lure I had with me and decided to call it an incredible day. We stayed for a bit and packed up deciding to head up north for the night to see how Frenzy and gang did. After stopping by and talking to the Gollas for a few minutes, we get there on a very low tide and hear they landed 2 or 3 pup sharks. After a bit of Tainted Fruit, the 8-10 so miles Yakmon and I put on the kayak took its toll and we were beat and did not take me long to crash. We woke up early and decided to pack it up early and head north and fish on the way out. Frenzy and Skipjack met up with us and we all decided to get a group photo of us friends.

Thanks to our new friend Jeff for taking the pic, whom we met for the first time at the jetties and I hope gets to make it on the web to find us. Frenzy&co. along with Skipjack&co. headed off the beach while we decided to stay just a little longer after picking up a Trout. Michael decided to oldschool it and swim out a bonita. We caught a plethora of Whiting and started to head off the beach. As we drove close to the 20's we find a guy hooked up in need of help. The 3 of us get out there and help him land what we already know was a stingray. Get him in and us superheros help them in need! Release about a 60-70lb ray and head up a couple more miles and find another guy in need. Once again we already knew it was a big ray. Sure enough he eventually gets it in and Yakmon and Michael to the rescue once again. This ray a bit bigger, pushing 100lbs. We help the guy release it and put a beautiful end to a fun and exciting trip. Being able to go out with good friends have fun is what it should be about. While whether or not we catch fish, just us being out there we find a way to have fun and when we have an exceptional trip with a wide variety of fish, it just tops it off. For me 4 Kingfish and several Spanish fromthe yak, along with 3 Snook all in one day just adds to anothergreat PINS trip. Great seeing everyone out there as usual and as always, can't wait for the next time.

Good fun!
-Oz

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