BigMac Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Bare with me. It's gonna be a long un Friday: We met Greg at the boat (Southern Star) at 5:00am for what would probably be our last go for a shark this year. The crew for the day was Rupe, 2 friends Darren and Damon and myself. Rupe had been round and perloined 2 5 gallon drums of "Sea Magnet" and we had a bag of frozen mackerel in case of mackerel shortage. I was the first to arrive at the boat and Greg had bran soaking and was cutting up mackerel when I got there. Rupe, Damon and Darren got there 5 minutes later and we were under way by 5 past 5. The conversation was only about 1 thing and during the near 4 hours it took us to get to our chosen spot, there wasn't anything about porbeagles that we didn,t talk about. Greg has had 5 porgies in the last 6 weeks and his knowledge of our quarry was enlightening to say the least. This was to be our 7th day in the last 2 months in search of the fish me and Rupe, with help and advice from Rob T (Shogun) and Greg, had been searching for. Except for a close encounter 5 weeks ago aboard Shogun when we had a dropped run and then an inquisitive porgie come up and nose a balloon, then spook off at a hundred miles an hour, we had been unsuccessful in our quest We arrived just before 9 and immediately deployed a barrel of "sea magnet" and a nice fresh mackerel/ bran/ fish oil bag. The mackerel were thin on the ground and it took us an hour to get 20 or so. I took charge of the knot tying and Rupe took charge of rod deployment. We chose to fish just 3 rods with a rotatation of rod times. Rupe generously chose not to have rod time due to the trip being his treat, so that left the 3 of us with 20 minutes per hour on the rods. Darren had the top of the hour, Damon had the middle 20 minutes and I had the last 20 minutes of each hour. We amused ourselves by catching what ever was under the boat and a succession of pout, bream, red gurnard,and cuckoo wrasse were brought to the boat. The tide eased as it got to lunch time and Greg quietly said "nows the time for a run" At 3 minutes to 1 Rupe shouts "whose on". Its my time and he passes me a rod with trickling off the spool. The spool quickens as the fish moves off 60 or 70 yards and then the line goes slack. As we look at the line entering the water it starts to move uptide and we realise that its changed direction. A few turns of the handle gets the slack back and with the fish moving up and acrss the tide, I push the lever to strike and let the full weight of the fish start to bend the rod before I set the the hook. "Fish on!!!" The first run strips 50 yards yards of line off the reel and the it turns and heads back towards the boat. I manage to keep pressure on it and with in 5 minutes I manage to get the leader to the tip ring. "There she is!!!" we all shout in unison and with that she goes off at a rate of knots. It looked a good fish and we all managed to get a brief glimpse of her. It runs shallow 80 or 90 yards which then takes me 5 minutes to get it back under the boat. It seems to like the shadow of the hull and keeps on going from port to starboard and back again. 5 or 6 times this happens with the fish just plodding up and down and i can feel head shaking through the rod tip. Getting fed up with this the shark starts to move uptide to port and 20 minutes after hooking it, the hook drops out "Still time for another chance" says Greg. We're all a bit despondant but excited having caught a brief glimpse. At 2 minutes past 2 "Who's on??" shouts Rupe. Darren quickly has the rod passed to him as the fish moves off at a rate of knots. Eventually it stops and the lever is pushed forward on the reel in anticipation of it moving off again. The line rises in the water and the rod bends as the full weight of the fish sets the hook, "fish on!!!" Darren takes the strain and the fish moves away on a steady run of 70/80 yards It heads up to the front of the boat and we all follow shouting words of encouragement The rod is passsed under the anchor rope and straight back to Darren, by now the hat is off and Rupe points out that Darrens head is almost the same colour as his hair 30 minutes in and the fish has done 5 laps of the boat and seems to be tiring at about the same rate as Darren. Rupe still offring offering words of encouragement After 40 minutes we get our first glimpse of the fish as it hits the surface Another 5 minutes and we have the fish alongside the door. Greg holds it on the leader as I try to slip the tailer on it. The tail keeps sinking but Damon comes to the rescue and uses the crook of the gaff to lift the tail to allow me to slip it on to the wrist of the tail. Darren has a rest as we slide the fish in the door to have a good look at it. Its bloody huge!!!!! The snapshots are taken quickly, and the fish is slipped back out of the door in to the water. We swim it for 2 or 3 minutes, it kicks its tail and then slowly swims off back to the depths. Hand shakes all around, pats on the back and big smiles tel the story of success. We sit in the wheelhouse drinking tea for an hour recounting every second of the fight, all of us in a state of euphoria. An English shark at last!!! One of my top 10 days fishing ever, without doubt. Thanks Greg!! Thanks Rupe!! Well done Darren!! AWESOME Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Great story, where are the pics? Well done. Any estimate for the size? Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMac Posted October 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 First glimpse, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMac Posted October 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Length and girth ratio tables give it as 300lb, cant seem to get photos to upload at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMac Posted October 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 try again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMac Posted October 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 On deck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMac Posted October 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Close up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Wow - now that is what you call a fish!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Martin Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Allan Thanks for sharing that with us a truly memorable day's fishing, I'm shaking just sat here reading about it Awesome photos Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wedger Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Nice one guys - A great team effort !! A great and just reward for all the work I know you've put into this. Result ! Congratulations. Trev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Fox Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Awesome! Perseverance pays off - well done for sticking with it. Who else is thinking "I'm going to need a bigger boat" ? Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alun j. Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Well done!!..........a reward for that massive effort. Makes our bass look like baitfish! Alun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swainiac Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Al, great write up. Perseverence pays dividends. With the dilligence that you and yor team put into your chosen quarrey, you desrevd a few takes and at least one fish, top marks. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 I think I need a bigger boat.......... Great write up - thanks for taking the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Fantastic Al and well deserved by the sounds of it. Reaidng that here at work at the moment and I know where I would rather be ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
great white Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 What a great result Once again it looks like preperation and hard work [7th attempt] has brought you just results Out of interest Al how long was the fish? last year the Club decided Club records for sharks would just be recorded that way and I was just wondering how this fish compared. A lovely creature, well worth the 8 hrs passage time Charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Al just remembered - I note reference to anchored and anchor line? This implies that you would be fighting these beasts (nicest possible beasts of course) against the tide as well as the hassle of the anchor line when it circles plus the potentially speedy spread of your 'slick' with a 3 knot tide! Interested in more info please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady jane Posted October 10, 2007 Report Share Posted October 10, 2007 congratulations on a brilliant result, andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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