Out fishing last week we put our bait in the wrong place at the right time. We had been live baiting the south drop towards what we call the western corner for a while with little success at the intended species, Rainbow Runners and Blackfin tuna when one of our spinning rods took off. Using a live pilchard with a new technique presented by my friend James from North Carolina he put a small egg weight before the 30lb fluorocarbon leader. It was working nicely to keep the baits off the surface and away from the birds but after it sank 20-30feet was when his reel took off. After the initial run I knew I had to move the boat because it actually ran slightly forward of the beam and odd run given that most fish run back and away. Down it went too, not out and up giving it a good possibility at a nice Blackfin tuna. I had to practically run the boat in a circle to keep the fish on our beam and quite fast too but I couldn't get it to stay behind the boat as James worked the rod smoothly up and down to gain line. Color. There it was on the surface, yellowish brown and clearly a tired lemon shark after the fifteen minute battle. With the rear wash gate open and the small seas James took five steps backwards and all of a sudden this beautiful animal is sitting on the deck out of its element where it commands all it encounters and into mine where we call the shots. The small live bait treble hook had perfectly pierced the corner of its mouth and was easily removed. James lifted it by the tail and then secured its body and head for that incredible picture above. Apparently lemon sharks are very tasty but we released ours with a lot of excitement and high fives.
