Assateague Beach

[Shawn L]

I hit the beach this weekend to do some camping and surf fishing. My brother-in-law Scott and I arrived Friday evening, set up camp and drove out on the beach for some late night action. Unfortunately the only action we saw was a few skate. The weather was better than we had a right to expect and the stars were magnificent so we could not complain. The next day would certainly reward us with some large Blues.

Saturday found us on the beach again and the action was very slow. We kept getting small hits but were unable to land them. I decided to downsize the bait and hooks to see what was pestering us. It turned out to be extremely small Blues. As the day wore on and with nothing big to show for our efforts I decided to launch the Kayak and drop a couple of large baits well off shore. I have never done this before and while I hoped for a possible Red Drum I did not expect much. Within minutes of my return the clicker began to sound and I set the hook on something very big. After fighting the fish for about two minutes my heart sank as the line went slack. When I reeled in the line I discovered my 80# leader was chewed through. Thinking Shark, I re-loaded with a metal leader, a size 8 hook and half a bunker and paddled back out about 300 yards off shore.

I have recently studied Shark fishing from the beach on the internet and had the equipment to do it but was still dared not hope that I would be lucky enough to land one. After a 30 minute wait the clicker once again began to make that sweet sound and I set the hook. This time I was properly set up for the fight. As Scott had never been surf fishing before I passed the rod to him and he settled in for the fight of his life. I'm not sure exactly how long it took to land the beast. Our adrenaline was pumping and we didn't have time to look at our watches but I would guess that after about 30 minutes the tail showed above the wash close to shore. I positioned myself to grab the 200# shock leader and aided him in pulling it to shore. Here is a photo of our catch.

Sandtiger.jpg

Not wanting to keep this beautiful creature out of the water too long we shot a quick photo, cut the hook and I grabbed him by the tail and returned him to deeper water where I waited with him for a few moments to be sure he was ok. When he pulled away I gave him a quick push and ran like Hell back to the sand. By now it was getting dark and we decided to stoke up a fire, drink a few cold beers and text pictures of the fish to everyone we knew.

I'm not sure how long Shark stay here but I'll be heading back out this weekend to try again. If anyone can recommend a large hook remover for this type of fishing I would appreciate it. Obviously I would prefer to remove the hook from the fish rather than cut the leader for his safety and comfort but don't want to lose any fingers in the process. For first timers I felt we did a pretty good job of returning him to the water quickly.

[Big Mike]

That's one mean looking shark. Wish I could help you on the de-hooker but like you I wouldn't want my hands anywhere near that monster.

[Mark]

No doubt about it, the plastic fish grips most if us carry on our kayaks wouldn't have worked!

Your determination is commendable.

Congratulations on a memorable catch.

[Yakinzak]

Beautiful catch! This goes to show that for all who think the Sharks have migrated south for the winter or gone out to deeper warming waters.. They're still around. Glad you made it back with all your limbs!

[Shawn L]

I found a 34 inch ARC dehooker on Amazon. I will take it with me this weekend. at almost a yard long it should give me plenty of breathing room from those chommpers.

[mweber02]

Wow, that is a great catch! That beast would make a snack out of the largest thing I have ever caught surf fishing.

[Shawn L]

Thanks Mike, I'm looking forward to trying again this weekend. This was not a bad catch considering it was my first time. Beginner's luck most likely.

[sega]

There's a couple different way of getting the hooks out of big sharks. The easiest is to just cut the hook. I don't like this, as some hooks don't rust out as soon as others (there is a video of a guy on the internet pulling out like 4 big circle hooks from a big hammer). But sometimes that's what ya gotta do because of the circumstances.

Your second option is to get one of those long hook grabbing devices. They're like 5' long, and is essentially just a long metal rod with a circle on the end that you put around the hook, and twist and torque til the hook pops out. Go check out Josh Jorgenson's videos on youtube, he uses one and I think you can buy one off his site. Youtube name is blacktiph.

The third method is just using a pair of long pliers and torquing it out. This is what I do and if you use the right technique you shouldn't have any problems as long as you're not a dingus about it.
Step 1- Approach the shark from the back, and first thing first put your knee right on top of his fin. If you're approaching from the left side, put your left knee on his left fin. Don't worry about breaking bones, hurting the fish, they're made of cartilage not bones they'll be fin.
Step 2- Starting from the top fin run your hand down to the tip of it's nose carefully and lift. His jaws will open wide and it almost puts them in a trance. With the pliers in your other hand pull that hook out.

Just remember that knee on the fin. Unless you have an absolute giant, that'll prevent him from turning into you and taking a swipe.

Awesome catch by the way! So many big sandtigers caught at AI this year!

[sega]

Something else a lot of people forget. There's a lot of instances where mashing the barb during a release helps a lot. I just went back and looked at your pic and how I would go about getting that hook out. I'd open his mouth as far as I could, push the hook through until the point and barb were showing, mash the barb, cut off the eyelit, and run the hook right through without having to leave a piece of metal in the sharks mouth.

At this point you've obviously trashed a hook, but if you're catching big sharks like that especially it's never a bad idea to change out hooks.

[EMSer]

That guy does not look happy to be there! Congrats on your catch

[Backdoc]

Thanks, I am NEVER swimming at Assateague again.

[Shawn L]

I've been back to the beach for the past two weeks but not much to show for it. I'm not sure where the big blues are. They don't seem to have arrived yet and it is getting late. I did enjoy some peaceful paddling off sure though.

[whenican]

I was fishing briefly @ PLO pier last thurs eve. Dude to the north side of me hooked a monster blue on cut bait.(prob just under 30"). Then 30 mins later he hooks one that's about 18". That was it.

[Shawn L]

Thanks for all the advise on getting the hook out of a shark. I did get a 34" dehooker that I hope to try. If that does not work I will use the knee on the fin and hand on the nose technique. I have the utmost respect for these creatures and returning them safely is a priority. I'm still hoping the blues will arrive in the surf soon.

[Slobber Bob]

. I'm still hoping the blues will arrive in the surf soon.

There had been lots of small blues in the surf (up to 20") in September and early October. I haven't fished Assateague since the drum run tapered off in mid-October, but I imagine they'd still be there. I caught a few in the Ocean City surf the other week on an SP, but they were tiny 12"ers and under the Rt. 90 bridge there was a bunch that size too when I tried last week.

If you're expecting BIG blues to show up in the Assateague surf.... well.... don't hold your breath. I surf fish out there often and there hasn't been a good showing of 30"+ blues in a long while. Some are caught but not in any numbers. Even when those big choppers were blowing up Cape and the Delaware beaches this spring, only a handful of them were caught on Assateague.

Hope I'm wrong though. I'd love to see them show up too!