We started out the day chasing some big schools of spanish macks. Man, were those a BLAST on the fly. They just nailed the fly when it was rapidly stripped or twitched. Caught about 30-40, and kept 9 for the table and a couple for shark bait. There were some nice pompano mixed in, but we couldn't nail any. I also think I saw a cobia cruising through the school...a nice one at that too!
I invited Mr. Mack for dinner...
They just destroyed those clouser minnow patterns we were throwing.
Well, we were in for a surprise. I hooked a teeny mack that must of gone 10", and then suddenly this HUGE cuda comes out of nowhere and nails him. Bam, he swallows the mack on the second try, and I feed him line. After a couple seconds, Capt. Hamilton tells me to nail him and he's on!
He takes me into my backing on his first run, about 100 yds of line gone in a matter of seconds. He stays out there for a while, then slowly heads toward the beach. Suddenly, he turns on the jets again and about 150 yds out towards the beach, we see him jump with a spinner shark on his tail! Damn, first the mack was nailed by the cuda, now a spinner is chasing it!
He somehow manages to shake off the spinner, and I bring him in back into the fly line. Now he starts heading out towards deeper water. After some serious palm pressure, I turn him back towards the boat and there is a 5' cuda following it! Well, that cuda dissapears, and finally, we land the beast. A 19 minute fight on a 7wt Albright rod. He was about 4'.
We catch some more macks, and then are shcked to see we only have an hour left. We decided we didn't have enough time for spinner sharks, and we would not be guarenteed one, so we head back to the ICW for some big jacks.
It took us a while to find them, and then a while to get the to hit. There were some big hammerheads that were spooking the jacks. Finally, we got into some fish. I caught two 8 lbers, while my dad caught one. These fish were intense! Some of the hardest fighting fish out there, especally on the fly. stripsetting these fish were HARD!
Well, after some arm-busting on the jacks, it was time to head home. What a great time on the water, and I'm sure it won't be the last. Thanks Capt. Hamilton. He's a great captain and guide, and is very experienced and friendly. If flyfishing is your thing, give him a call for some EXTREME flyfishing.
I can't wait to do it again...Next time, spinner sharks!
-FF
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