Mr.T...finally :D
 

well after yesterdays hookup it was hard not to try again. I got up at 6 and had work at 130 so i figured i could get a few hours in. On the water by about 7 and i hit up the receiver.

Gave the guy 4$ and he stuffed my bait tube to the brim. Told him i was going to try for thresher sharks, he said "come back and show me if u get one." I go to the same spot i hooked up yesterday and drop a lively sardine down. I meter a few bait balls, so while im slowly cruising i throw a light kroc and play with the macs a bit. About 30 minutes later my rod tip was bouncing up and down and then ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Clicker was going hot and he took a shitload of line on the initial hit, i knew this was going to be a battle. It was pretty ugly out there to say the least, light wind with dark clouds and a bit of mist, very grim. A boat would cruise by every now and then and see me hooked up. It went down mostly and dogged me towards the bottom.

I would gain line back and he would take twice as much in a drag burning dash. I could feel his tail sawing at my 30lb mono and i started to get nervous that it was going to slowly cut through my setup.

For a few moments of the fight he started to tow me, and took me at least a half mile or so from where i hooked up. I took several breaks, just resting the butt of the rod into my gut and holding the front grip with my hand letting him pull.

Finally, I had color my first thresher :D. My heart was racing, and i was excited but really didnt know what to do with such an intimidating fish next to my kayak, even tho it was a baby, id never brought something this big to the side of my yak before. Not to mention its tail was insane. I did what most people in youtube videos do and just grabbed his ribbon like tail, he didnt like that and shook out, splashing water on me and rocking me heavy side to side, he dove back down and did another screaming run, it wasnt over.

Get him back up, start wrapping a rope around his tail and he shakes out again going back down but not as far. I get him up a 3rd time and this time i get the rope around his tail, i put my hand under his belly and just tossed him on my lap with his head facing away from me, i wrestled him a bit and roped him down more.

Luckily a parasailing boat drove by with a daveys locker worker. He went down to the swim step and diced its gills for me, the first time i saw lots of blood hit my kayak cause of a fish. When i got back in a small crowd formed and congratulated me. One fellow yakker took a pic and texted it to me but i cant seem to dl it on my phone.

Took about 45 mins to an hour and it hit a sardine with a 2oz egg sinker. Oh btw it was tail hooked, and id estimate around 70 pounds including the tail. What a rush and a great milestone for me. I will probably be back out next week on tuesday and thursday to C & R another one.

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/y.../IMG_20151.jpg

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/y.../IMG_20171.jpg

the harvest

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/y.../IMG_20181.jpg

thanks for reading

you think that size wieghs 70lbs?

wtg on finally gettin one. im going to NPH sunday and hopefully get something out there.

Including the tail yes. I have caught rays up to 80lbs this actually felt heavier lol

I am jealous! Nice catch......35-40 lb absolute max though, no way that things pushing 70

Ditto.

20-25 pounds for that baby - max.
Your first thresher is always fun - only keep what you can eat, please release the rest.

here's a link to a verified 100 pounder one of my friends caught just recently.

http://www.kayakfishingmafia.com/smf...ic,2688.0.html

Don't forget to eat the umbilical cord. Its the best part...

http://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/cal...ease-first.htm

if you plan on catching and releasing threshers please read the attached link on the web link above. the majority of thresher sharks that are caught with sportfishing gear are tail hooked. thresher sharks, like all sharks are ram ventilators, which means in order to breath they need to be swimming forward. when tail hooked threshers get pulled in backwards which is often makes it difficult for the shark to breath. as a result, many thresher sharks die after being released. a recent study done by PIER shows that tail hooked threshers that are fought for an extended amount of time usually die after being released. keep that into mind the next time you hook up to a thresher.

you said it took 45 min to an hour to reel in your shark. i would call that an extended amount of time. in reality you could have had that fish boatside in less than 5 minutes on 30 lb test. maybe if you went to the gym more the shark wouldn't seem heavier than it actually is and you might have been able to pull back on it? that is probably the smallest thresher shark i have ever seen killed... nice fish :leaving:

awesome job :cheers1:, I've been following your attempts at a Tshark, glad it finally paid off for you congrats. Don't let anybody kill your stoke, you caught your target species after multiple attempts and you got an decent harvest. The only advice I would give is to cut its gills prior to thowing it between your legs.

Thanks for the correction on the weight guys. Maybe because its so stout it felt heavier to me looking at others 40 ish seems more reasonable, 70 or 40 still the biggest fish I have taken on the yak, hope I don't give off a cold shoulder killing this baby, I really am a c & r fisherman but many have told me these guys taste better than swords, I only keep what I eat, I won't keep another for a long time cheers.

Don't let these guys bust your nuts to much. If you want to eat them, EAT THEM! We are all fisherman, most of us keep fish, and those of us who keep them eat 'em. Who are any of us to tell you you shouldn't keep this or catch that (unless they are illegal of course). I'd rather you keep the small ones than the big girls. Congrats on your PB from the yak.:sifone:

Congrats on your "trophy" fish! Too bad it was tail hooked, takes all the fun out of the fight.....36#s at best.

Yea it was a lot more comfortable for me to handle a smaller one for my first one too. I feel like the smaller ones go for dines over macs, I hooked an even smaller one the day before, I definitely woulda let that one go cuz there was almost no girth or meat to it. Anywho, I figured if its like calico bass the older they are the oily they are. Plus like ur saying let the big toads continue to breed and pass down the large genes. Thankyou for your support, I only report to inform others that are still in wait of a fish like this, if I wanted to get flamed I'd go get a bucket and keep short bass and hali and post pics on BD lol :rolleyes:

Nice catch bro! I may come out there tomorrow

You had to expect some flames for holding up a juvenile thresher.

Personally, I would rather eat the 4$ worth of sardines!!

do yourself a favor and DO NOT post this on BD!

congrats on getting your target species, now focus on getting a trophy!!

:cool:

Good Job on the target fish.I knew you would get one eventually.Sorry you had to get a citation from the thresher police.Enjoy it on the grill(flip steaks with a spatula like burgers)

:sifone:

Not down with this. Share it with Casey Anthony. pre-mature ejaculation congratulations fellow fisherwho :cheers1:

Well guess what, what I did was legal so suck my pie hole penis face go "save the world"

Hey you got a Thresher regardless of size. There are a lot of people who haven't got one, and would like to including myself. IMHO anyone who harvests a legal fish shouldn't get any grief especially with the MLPA giving us enough grief.:mad:

Actually harvesting the younger ones is more sustainable.:)