# Camping, Sharking, Pompanoing (LOL!) etc... Johnson Beach 4/20 - 4/22



## OSAGEBOW (Mar 1, 2012)

Headed out to Johnson Beach Friday 4/20 about 2 pm to do some camping and fishing. We were told that it was about a mile down the beach to the camping area. Everyone was mad at me by the time that we got all of our gear set up. There were 8 of us total and it took from 2 pm till dark to get it all to the camping area. Everyone had different ideas about what kind of fishing they wanted to do so we carried all of our gear. Some wanted to Pompano fish. Some wanted to Shark fish. Some wanted to go floundering. 
While we were setting up, my son and I paddled out 2 shark baits for the night. We used blue fish that we had caught the weekend before. Our rig consisted of Penn 9/0 reels, 18 feet of 100 lb mono, and 9 feet of 200+ lb steel cable. Everyone went to bed that night and I slept in a sleeping bag next to the poles so I could hear them when they went off. The next morning I awakened to find two very slack lines. When I reeled one of them in I only had about 12 feet of the 100 lb mono remaining. The other reel had all of its hardware but the steel cable was so twisted and knotted that I could no longer use it. We also caught a few pompano early Saturday morning.
Headed out to Grays Bait and Tackle to get some more shark gear. These guys were very helpful!!! I bought a couple of more hooks and some 240 lb wire leader material. This time I doubled up the 100 lb mono and I made it about 12 feet long. The wire leader was 10 feet long. I caught a Jack Crevalle about 9 am and decided we were gonna use a piece of it for shark bait. Filleted almost all of one side and hooked it up. My son and I paddled the bait out. It started raining on us around 11 am. About 2 pm the shark rig started singing. My two sons ages 14 and 13 fought it as hard as they could. It was fun watching them reel it in. It measured almost 5 feet exactly. We are not sure how much it weighed. 
It rained the rest of the day Saturday and didnt stop until around 12 am Sunday morning. That is when the wind started howling from the north. It was blowing 30 mph. We then had to take all of our gear back to the vehicles. It took us all day to transport everything. This is when I got into trouble. I take some medicine that I really have to be careful with and not get dehydrated. I guess I was not careful enough and fell out and the "camping beyond this point only sign". It was around 5 pm. At this point it was only me, my daughter (16), son (14) and son (13) that was left. Everyone else had already taken their loads and was gone. My oldest son went to call 911. The Innerarity Point Firemen did a fantastic job of helping all of us. They even let my kids ride in the ambulance with me and they took the remainder of the camping / fishing gear to the fire station. I want to say a BIG thank you to all of those guys. They were GREAT!!!! Between the ambulance ride and the emergency room I was given about 5 bags of fluid. Went home around 11 pm. Don't think we will try that camping area again, especially with all of our gear. Here are some of the pics:


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## OSAGEBOW (Mar 1, 2012)

well not sure what happened to the pics but I will try again in a little while. Have to go for now.


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## amedio (Apr 25, 2012)

Nice pompanos friend! What did you catch 'em on?


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## bbarton13 (May 4, 2009)

Wirelessly posted (Iphone 4s)

Sorry to hear about you falling lout at the end but even with the rain looks like you guys had a good weekend. Nice pomps, shark, and jack!


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## OSAGEBOW (Mar 1, 2012)

We caught the Pompano on sandfleas. Thanks bbarton!! We had a wonderful weekend and alot of fun!!!


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## lucky (Mar 23, 2012)

Nice! That looks like a blast!


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## johnsonbeachbum (Oct 1, 2007)

I was coming off the beach Friday when you were still hauling stuff from the road to the gulf. I shook my head and chuckled at the amount of stuff you were taking out.
With the jonboat, I figured you must be going down the beach three miles or more.


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## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

glad your alright, not a great ending to a trip having to call 911....


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## OSAGEBOW (Mar 1, 2012)

Johnsonbeachbum, I figured their would be people chuckling at all the stuff we had but we were gonna have a good time anyway!! LOL!!! I could just imagine all those firemen picking the rest of our stuff up and saying what the h***!! For instance, I took part of an extension cord to repair one of my flounder lights and I could see one of the firemen laughing and saying "what were they plugging this into?". I originally wanted to go all the way to the pass but I googled it and it was way too far.


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## Snagged Line (Sep 30, 2007)

Wirelessly posted

Next time you need a boat.....glad you are ok....


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## OSAGEBOW (Mar 1, 2012)

thanks Snagged Line!! We had a jon boat without a motor to paddle the shark baits out but you are right, next time we need a MOTOR BOAT!!


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