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We departed
Ocean Marine in Freeport and headed out of Jones Inlet on a course of
about 147°M, bound for a spot called Mako Hotel. With a name like
this, how could we lose? The morning was steamy, with the mercury predicted
to climb well above 90°F. Even with a two- to three-foot chop from
the southwest, the Grady made a comfortable 26 knots on her way out to
the fishing grounds.
Of course
the ride out meant story-sharing time, which was full of battles fought
with some glorious victories and heartbreaking defeats. There was D’Angelo’s
tale of his crew hooking up just a week before with more than 17 blue
sharks in the same spot we were headed to. The blue is not the gamest
of sharks, but it can prove entertaining while waiting for Mr. Snaggletooth.
I shared my own near-miss story of meeting up with a mammoth mako last
summer during a tournament in which the estimated 400-pound-plus fish
came right up to my boat’s swim platform and taunted me by eating
the chum and not taking the hooked bait. I did everything to entice him
but open the transom door and dangle my feet in front him. He just wasn’t
having it.
At the
spot where we were to set up the chum slick and drift the water temperature
was near 70°F and as blue as a mako’s back. The scene was primed
for a big, toothy critter to come and dance with our crew.
Most
often the chum slick is made out of oily, ground bunker and mackerel that
is continuously distributed into the water via a hole-filled chum bag
slung over the gunwale. The oily slick lures the sharks up to the full
or filleted mackerel, bunker, and/or hooked bluefish baits. In addition
to our standard chum this day, Blanchard, a Louisiana native who happens
to be a sushi connoisseur and goes by the nickname “Chum Master
Slick,” made friendly with his local chef and collected some tuna,
yellowtail, and salmon strips to add to the mix. I was thinking, “Hey
buddy, let’s get some of that tuna in a pan below decks, huh?”
With
the chum master’s slick going strong, the oil made a clearly visible
lane over the gentle swells and flattened a pathway for the baits. We’d
attached the strips of fish to 10/0 hooks with six-foot-plus 240-pound
wire leaders connected to 100-pound mono via a 500-pound swivel. If we
hooked up with something, it wasn’t breaking off easily. The mono
was spooled on 50-pound Shimano Tiagra reels attached to D’Angelo’s
custom 5'6" stand-up rods. The baits were out, Hylan had the camera
ready, and all we had to do now was keep the slick going, check baits
periodically, and—well, wait for Mr. Snaggletooth.
Next page >
Snaggletooth, Part 3 > Page 1,
2, 3, 4
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