# Bull Shark in the Surf 4/29/08



## jryno (Nov 8, 2007)

Last week while cobia fishing aboard the SURE LURE out of Destin we saw 20 - 30 sharks between the Okaloosa Island Pier and the West jetty of Destin's East Pass. So knowing they were there I took my eleven year old daughter with me to the beach to catch one of them. After a quick stop in Destin to raid the carcass bucket of the SURE LURE my daughter and I hit the beach half way between the pier and the jetties. Fishing with a bonita head on a 12/0 circle hook, 4 feet of 90# single strand wire, 25 lbs test mono on a 7 ft rod and a Penn 750, I waded out knee deep and heaved the bait as far as I could. I put the rod in a sand spike and starting playing a competitive game of sand tic tac toe with my daughter. Ten or so games later my rod gets ripped from the rod holder and starts skidding south bound through the sand. Just as the rod tip entered the water I was able to grab it. I came tight and was hooked into something with big shoulders. The shark nearly dumped the spool on the first run. I gained back half the line and handed the rod to my daughter. She fought the shark for a few minutes before handing the rod back to me. Twenty minutes later I asked her if she was ready to battle again. She took over and did a great job of keeping the line tight, gaining line when she could, and letting the shark run when it wanted to. A few minutes later we were able to bring the 6 foot Bull Shark up on the beach. I estimated the weight to be around 100 lbs. After some photos the shark was released unharmed.


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## BuckWild (Oct 2, 2007)

nice shark, but it's not a bullshark. nose is too pointed. i think it may be asandbar - i'm not real sure though. here is a link that i found. not trying to be a dick, just informative. what matters is that your duaghter had fun landing it. http://www.rodnreel.com/gulffish/gulffish.asp?cmd=view&FishID=105


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## ditchdoctor81 (Oct 3, 2007)

I bet she had a blast! :clap


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## Telum Pisces (Sep 27, 2007)

That was a very nice read. Keep her interested in fishing. Niceshark as well. It does kind of have too much of a pointed nose to be a bull though.


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## ShurKetch (Oct 2, 2007)

Had shark problems yesterday. They were eating our fish and cutting our lines. Between the dolphin and sharks it is getting hard to catch good fish. Had a dolphin grab a nice snapper and nearly got all of my line before I could tighten down and break my line.


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## Clay-Doh (Oct 2, 2007)

Nice pics! And great job on your daughters part wranglin him in! 25 pound test...man you must have patience.


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## J.Sharit (Oct 3, 2007)

Nice shark!! Looks like we might have a good year for the rascals....... Hope theres a few around for our unoffical shark tourney in 2 weeks.


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## hntrdave11 (Mar 20, 2008)

Nice fish!



Congrats to both you and your daughter. :clap


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## caylorray (Oct 3, 2007)

That's a blacktip, and a nice one! Good job!! :clap

Looks like it's time to get the gear out


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## fishmasterseven (Oct 6, 2007)

wow...nice job and high five to your daughter for fighting the ol graysuit monster.


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## dan ros (Nov 6, 2007)

good to hear your daughter landed a shark! 

watching a kid pull in a fish (especially one thats bigger than them) is one of the coolest things to watch. maybe im just getting old and soft, but watching the excitement and wonder on their faces is just priceless.

keep her fishing amigo!


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## Norton (Mar 24, 2008)

Very nice. 

This may be a dumb question, ( I'm new to surf fishing) but what do you do with it after you get it to the shore?


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## jryno (Nov 8, 2007)

I grabbed it by the tail and carefully pulled it back into the water. The circle hook was still in the corner of her mouth but it will rust out rather quickly. She swam off like nothing had ever happened to her. Thanks to all of you for the help with identification of this shark, but I'm still not sure what species she was.


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## captgryno (Mar 12, 2008)

Congrats Storme! Awesome catch!! :clap:hoppingmad


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## mpmorr (Oct 3, 2007)

Way to go man, great job getting your daughter involved. :clap


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## hard bottom (Apr 16, 2008)

Wow! That is a huge black tip, at first glance I thought thats a spinner shark with that kind of size, but its a black tip for sure. 6 foot Bull Shark below


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## captgryno (Mar 12, 2008)

I have fished in the Gulf for almost 25 years, and have caught many, many sharks. Unless it is a Bonnett Head, Hammer Head or a Mako, I haven't known exactly what I had caught. If it was big, I called it a Bull. If it was small, I would call it a "Sandbar Shark". If it had dark tips, it was a Black Tip. I actually took some time and researched some shark I. D.'s today, and this shark (caught by jryno's daughter) was a BIG Black Tip. 

Congrats again!


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## still flippen (Oct 6, 2007)

Great job on the catch and release on that large shark. OneStorm will not soon or every forget. I bet JR's kicking himself in the butt for not going to the beach with dad that day. Oh well, there's always tomorrow. P.s. Go pomp fishing asap:bowdown


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## jryno (Nov 8, 2007)

Thanks for the comments guys. Catching that shark was a lot of fun. LikeStillflippin says: Pompano fishing should be hot the rest of the week. Morning high tides, clean water and lots of sandfleas on Okaloosa Island. Pretty good combination. I'mheading to Princess Beach in the A.M.


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## jryno (Nov 8, 2007)

Here is a better picture that a nice lady e-mailed me:


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## flats stalker (Oct 2, 2007)

> *BuckWild (4/30/2008)*nice shark, but it's not a bullshark. nose is too pointed. i think it may be asandbar - i'm not real sure though. here is a link that i found. not trying to be a dick, just informative. what matters is that your duaghter had fun landing it. http://www.rodnreel.com/gulffish/gulffish.asp?cmd=view&FishID=105


HOW DID YOU GET AHOOK IN THE BACK OF YOUR HEAD?


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## Framerguy (Oct 2, 2007)

> *hard bottom (5/5/2008)*Wow! That is a huge black tip, at first glance I thought thats a spinner shark with that kind of size, but its a black tip for sure. 6 foot Bull Shark below


Man, that's one fine shark!!! Female by the looks of it, but that is the first shark of any species that I have seen wearing Crocs!!! 

Wait, ....................... (where are those reading glasses??) ........................ oh, yeah, ...................... well, nice fish anyway.


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## Fishforlife2 (Oct 3, 2007)

lol good one framer nice shark thats a good sized blacktip and your daughter had fun thats the best part


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