NJ Saltwater Fisherman Forums
NJ Saltwater Fishing Reports and Information => NJ Saltwater Fishing Reports => Topic started by: IrishAyes on July 14, 2007, 06:05:58 PM
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I met Hareball and his buddy Captain Mike at the dock at 4am. Also at the dock was my buddy Johnny Oz. We exchanged greetings and began sorting out our gear. Hareball and Captain Mike brought shark gear that they wanted christened. I went down to the end of the dock to greet fellow dockmates. I spoke to Vinny who told me that he was staying at the dock to do some work as his crew backed out on him at the last minute. He was invited along and accepted the invite.
We shoved off at about 4:45 after all gear was sorted and stowed. After exiting Shark River inlet we set a course to the Monster Ledge, about a twenty five mile jaunt.
We arrived at Monster Ledge at about 6am and drifted for several minutes to check the drift direction. After figuring out the direction and checking the chart plotter we selected a location that looked like a likely place for a shark to be hanging out. Over went the chum bucket. Out went the first line. About ninety feet down and maybe fifty yards from the boat. We set out number two line. As we were doing this, number one line started paying out. BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz. Off to the races...but only for a few anxious moments as the line soon went limp. We watched as the shark float did it's job. It floated off. Bringing the line in revealed that we got cut off. By what, we can only assume a thresher shark's tail. The end of the line that was fastened to the 200# test Sampo snap swivel was frayed. We knew the line had a fresh clean cut when it was rigged, so the knot did not pull.
Number one line was re-rigged and sent out again. Two lines in, looking good. Vinny begins to put out number three line. As he is feeding out line and gets maybe thirty feet of line in the water the line begins to peel off of the reel. WHAM. We have a good hook up. Vinny passes the rod over to Captain Mike. (Prearranged order for hookups had Captain Mike up first). Captain Mike brings a four and a half foot mako boatside. No need for the bang stick or flying gaff. The mako succumbed to us and was secured to a front cleat, out of the way.
One shark secured before seven am! Wow, that's great.
I checked the chart plotter and the area where we were now drifting was not on any structure. We committed a so called sin in sharking and broke our slick. (no need to drift over barren land).
We set up a second drift about two miles SE of our first stop. Again, three lines are put out. Having little to do but wait, I made use of the time by tying some fluke rigs. Tied about a dozen rigs when the short line goes off. The reel starts screeching. FISH ON, off to the races again.
Hareball steps up to the plate. This fish is nice. The shark takes him around the boat. Now, this is not an easy task. Not on a Parker with a sport cabin. Up the side of the cabin Hareball goes with Captain Mike leading the way. Holding onto a rod with a fish pulling on you is hard enough. Getting up and around a cabin while this is happening is nearly impossible. But they managed. And managed it will.
Hareball needs a well earned rest and he passes the rod off to Captain Mike.
Captain Mike takes a turn fighting the fish and after a bit passes the rod back to Hareball.
Hareball is back on the fish. The fish begins to come up. We see color. It's a thresher shark that is every bit as long as my cockpit and that is better than nine feet. After seeing Hareball, oops, I mean, the boat (hehe) the thresher does not want to be where he is. Off he goes. Hareball again puts up a very hard fight. After a while Hareball passes the rod off to Captain Mike again. Captain Mike is now humping around the boat. After a complete circle of the boat the thresher decides he want to see the other side of the boat again and goes under the boat. Captain Mike plays the shark out like an expert. The thresher makes a leap out of the water and Captain Mike gains control again. Now the rod goes to Johny Oz.
Johnny Oz has his turn in the barrel. He does a good job and as the thresher begins to tire relinquishes the rod to Hareball again.
After a serious battle Hareball brings the shark boatside. At boatside Vinny sticks the thresher with a flying gaff. Good shot, just behind the dorsal. The shark is fairly tame at boatside, he was played out well. Captain Joe puts a round in the thresher's brain with the bang stick. Man, is that noisy (and wet) when it goes off. After a few minutes the thresher still had a little bit of life still in him. A second hit with the bang stick puts a cure to that. Time spent from hook up to bang stick was forty five minutes. What a great fighting fish. t^
After a well deserved rest and high fives all around we set the lines out again. We drift until we are off of the structure and decide it's time to go home. It is now twelve thirty and we have over an hour ride to the barn and a lot of shark to clean. On the way in we call the marina and ask about a weigh in. Arrangements are made and the marina owner is at the dock to meet us.
Up on the scale, verdict is 190 pounds. Total length from head to end of tail, eleven feet three inches! Nice. The tail is now hanging on a piling alongside my boat.
Johnny Oz steaked the sharks out and everyone took home a lot of shark meat.
It was a great day on the water. The crew meshed very well together. Everything worked out better than anyones expectations. Thanks Hareball, Captain Mike, Johnny Oz and Vinny. You guys made a wonderful crew and made for a memorable trip.
High fives all around.
Captain Joe
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more!
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That's it?
Say it ain't so JOE!
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Wham WHAT ??? ??? This like the old joke "how do keep an idiot in suspense?? " ;D
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what an awesome trip! captain joe put us right on the spot for 2 great fish. thanks to capt joe and the rest of the crew for a trip that will be remembered for the rest of our lives.
never have I felt so much fight on the end of a line!! the fight lasted just under an hour and the gear was a shimano TLD25....forget the rod but it was a 30-60 class.
what a day TT^
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thresher
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damn good job!
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Sorry guys, I hit the wrong freakin button on my laptop and it took this long to finish. All of the report is in the first post now. My bad. TT^
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Hey Hareball. Remember the boat you told me about that had some serious conversation before they went out? They hit the dock after you guys left. They pulled the scale down to 302 pounds with a mako! What a great looking fish THAT was!
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great report capt! and great pics too TT^
wow thats huge!! glad them guys had a great day too! anybody pulling out at 4am deserves it :D
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Way to go. Good lookin cap on that Thresher too :)
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wow whata read!
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Man.. What a friggin day!!.. I'm gelous :(
But thumbs up to the crew and Capt of the IrishAyes.
This is gunna be one hell of a front pager TT^
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wow, beautiful catch..
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That would be a day I'D remember for a life time.
If your ever in need of a "Video Guy" Count me in.
It made A great front pager also
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Rod, a video would have been great today. When Hareball and Capt Mike were going around the outside of the cabin with that fish hooked up...priceless.
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Hi Guys,
Fantastic! Congratulations ... great job all around including documenting the event!
Bravo,
Capt. Ed
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Great report Capt. Joe.
Good pics and sounds like a good time. TT^
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guys, the trip was flawless! 5 guys that love fishing and the sharks didn't dissapoint. I can't even begin to explain how I felt the first time the thresher came to the boat and I saw the size and then the shark just peeled line off the reel.
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Great job guys.. How were the conditions out there and how much chum you go thru??
Joe is a hell of a nice guy!!
Congrats to all!!
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Sweet. Nice Job Capt.
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Hi Joey,
The water was clean. Not blueish like it should have been, but clean just the same. We had a light wind and maybe two foot waves that were spead out far enough that we could run 20-25 knots. We left the fishing grounds at around 12:30 with pretty much the same sea condition. When we got within three miles from the beach it got choppy, as the wind began to pick up and the boating traffic was the usual weekend farce.
We had a five gallon pail of chum and a two and a half gallon pail over at the same time. They lasted all morning. The water temp was 71 and therefore did not thaw it out at a fast rate.
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we had a sweet slick going out. layed the seas down nicely and from time to time we even saw some bluefish schools going by really fast. john and captain mike managed to bring a few on board to freshen up our baits t^ the schools behavior seemed skittish though. the monster ledge was a dangerous area yesterday. ;D
sore as hell today!! I can only compare my current condition to my first day as a laborer for a mason. 8 hours of lugging around 12" block and 2 5 gallon buckets of mud. what a shark!!!!
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Congrats to all - Good captain and crew makes it all come together. t^
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Great post,felt like I was right there with you.
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That is a sweeeet fish guys. I would love to reel in a shark like that. Amazing job, nice report!
Fish On!
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Great post,felt like I was right there with you.
Wish ;D
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rod, gotta do the video t^
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It would have been.. Like.. WOW ;D
Captions, Music< Credits. Like Wow.
I think were gunna need a redo trip ;)
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no doubt TT^
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Nice job guys,congrats Capt. Joe TT^
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WoW!!! What a trip. Awesome job Capt. Joe and crew. What an accomplishment, and would not have been possible without the flawless teamwork. Capt. Joe put us on the fish and we all set the dinner table uumm!! Can't wait to do it again, the only thing I would do diffrent is bring the ear plugs. Rod a video would have been priceless, Capt. Joe did an awesome reenactment of what transpired, the suspense was defiantly replicated, and the video would have backed it up. Awesome memories, great pics, perfect crew and Capt., and what a gourmet meal. Capt. Ed delivers!!!
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yeah i'm still blown away from the trip! captain joe had both eyes going from his plotter to his fish finder looking for the structure as well as the ledges on the plotter and saw what he liked and the drift started. BANG mako on! then he moved the boat, again eyes all over the electronics, found his next spot and began the next drift and BAM!! thresher on!
the rest of the crew was just as flawless. after the long fight captain joe busted out the bang stick! earplugs...yeah that would have been good lol!! then vinny stuck it with the flying gaff and quickly tied it off while johnny was leader man.
captain joes first shot with the bang stick seemed to be the perfect shot as the thresher looked to have lost control of it's ability to move but one more shot was insurance just to be sure. plus I wanted everybody within a mile to know we had something good. TT^
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vinnie took a bunch of great photos! I had no idea he was shooting pics...the world could have fell apart around me and I would have never known. ;D
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more
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last ones
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Sweet Ride...
Fantastic report guys this one is the read all the way...
Paul
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Way to go guys! With all the pics still getting posted and the story still going, looks like the WHOLE crew is going to earn a nice reputation. TT^
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Wow guys thats a sweet catch, to bad I wasnt there to set the hook for that one, you probably wouldnt be able to find the hook it'd be so far in its brain. >:D
Fish On