We chartered a private 45-foot fishing boat Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon. Went bottom fishing Monday, about 20 miles off-shore. Caught mackerel and snapper along with some smaller fish that weren't worth keeping. Heather, Dane, Dane's mother (Jeannette), Alec and I went. Dane caught a nice bonita, which we used for shark bate Tuesday. The seas were pretty rough with 8-foot swells. Everyone except Jeannette and I got sea sick, so we came in a little earlier than planned.
Shark fishing yesterday was a lot of fun. We were only a couple of miles away from land and the water was a little calmer. Only Heather, Dane and I went. No one got sea sick this time.
Heather snagged the first shark, but it got away just as we were trying to get it into the boat. I caught the next one: a 200 pound, 6-foot shark! Took about 1-1/2 hours to fight with it before I finally got it close to the boat. When attempting to land the shark in the boat, the gaffing hook broke! Had to slip a lasso rope around the mid-portion of the shark. Took three of us to pull the thing onto the boat because it was so large and heavy. I'm still a bit sore this morning.
The seafood restaurant next door to the marina cooked the shark meet, as well as the mackerel and snapper. We called the others when we got back and they all met us at the boat to see our catch and then we all had a nice dinner at the sea food restaurant. Everything was delicious.
I have lots of pictures of the fishing trips, but haven't downloaded them yet. Will post one of the shark in the near future.
Everyone is having a nice time. The beach is nice and warm and lots of activities. The weather has been great here, too, although I hear we are having storms back home.
Take care and have a nice July 4th holiday!
Jeff
