Dec 7th, 2003.. a day that will be lived in triumph.

Being back home for a few days OldSalt twisted my arm and got me back out to the greatest beach on earth, PINS. With a recent front that just blew in and promising future weather conditions, we had a gut feeling that the next couple of days would explode with activity on the beach. Thus.. the trip.

Slept in til it warmed up a few degrees. We hit beach in the late morning to birds working far offshore. Little activity up close but the water was calm and clear.. and still moderately warm. Stopped by Nickaway who had an icechest already filled with Pomps/Whiting/and a healthy Red. About to leave and Nicks buddy brings in a Bull Red. We leave and find a happy hunting ground for ourselves.

Around noon we finally get baits out and admire the true beauty and majestic mystery of Padre Island. I decided to try my luck with the Pompano and as I walk down the beach, OldSalts yells are filtered out with the drag of one of my 12/0's and instantly I do a B line back to the rods. OldSalt gathers an excellent hookset on the fish and I finally get to the rod to take over. At first we were convince we had another medium size Bull but eventually end up landing a 6'8" Sandbar. Shark tagged and Released.

  After doing some quick Reel Repair fixing the anti-reverse on the 12/0, my other 12/0 goes psycho-screamin. I am then hooked up on a massive fish.

  The next hour and a half would prove to make up for every monster I have hooked up and lost earlier this year. Strength and speed was on its side, but today I knew I had to prevail. From a distance we could see this monster slice through the water. Making a couple moderate frustrating jumps, we were quite curious to what we were dealing with. In the past I have caught and been with people who have caught large Sandbars and seen them go airborne. However, this fish was much larger and with shear size on its side, we were still curiously interested in what large predatory fish was on the other end of the line.

After close to an hour we get this massive fish in the wade gut but the sun was close to setting and daylight was fading. We see an enormous dorsal levitate from the depths and out of the water. Our first thought was "..That is the biggest Sandbar in all of the worlds oceans". One turn of the fish into a large swell with the clear green water would change all that. The shark was several yards from us and had changed direction with its head pointed straight towards us. At that moment, a massive dark silhouette showed the unholy girth of this creature. My leader man Scott showed his true bravery when after several minutes of going up and down the beach in the wade gut he carefully and precisely tail ropes the beast and I hurry to help him hold on for dear life. After a long and epic battle, and several minutes of being brutalized landing the fish at the edge of the water, all our hard work during the past 6 months has paid off. We land a Female 9' 6 ½" Shortfin Mako from the surf.

With Scott, myself, and the beast running low on energy, we knew it would be an amazing accomplishment to tag and release this shark.

  We knew even though tired from the battle, we had to act quick to get pics, tag, and measure the shark and deal with the leader. With every several seconds passing, the high tide makes its presence known and with the shark pointed back at the water, it goes in ballistic mode and ends up burying its heavy body in the sand. This wasn't good for us because we knew it took every ounce of sweat and energy to get it stationary. Luckily a swell came up and Scott and I grab the tail rope to try to maneuver the shark closer the the dropoff in the wade gut... it works.

  A couple of last minute shots during another rage of fury (see above), we are ready to release this magnificent apex predator back to the deep blue sea. With taking every remaining reserve of energy we had, we were able to slowly get the shark in deep enough water to where she could move around and swim freely. Ended up walking her out several yards until she slowly swam away. For the next 5-10 minutes we watched this monstrous Mako swim the surface with its dorsal raised until it slowly returned to the deep past the 3rd gut.

After about an hour of realization of what we just accomplished, we were still in awe and reflecting the experience. But could this day get any better.. unbelievably yes.

A 12/0 of Scotts goes off barely but we knew there had to have been a small shark hooked. After several minutes Scott lands a 6'0" Blacktip.. amazingly dwarfed by the previous catch. Shark tagged and released.

  Night fell, the moon rose and we had several good baits still out. Once again we were caught reflecting upon the incredible Mako when Scott's 12/0 goes off again. It was another medium size shark but no match for his 12/0. After a short fight Scott lands a 6'3" Sandbar. Shark tagged and released.

  We had one last large shark take a bait but never hooked up. The rest of the night was fairly quiet as surf was tremendously picking up and weed was beginning to wipe us out.

OldSalt and I once again had another epic trip to add to our PINS resume. The fact that Scott and I were able to tag and release quite possibly the largest Land Based Mako ever taken gave us a true appreciation for the raw power and beauty if this animal. Conservation is essential with todays depleting stock and only served us right to release this amazing fish to its natural habitat. With luck the hooks buried on the inside corner of the jaw will soon rust out and this creature will once again reign as the top predator of the ocean.

Oz and Oldsalt.. over and out.