Welcome to the FLORIDA SURFCASTERS forums.

Well I didn't take my American Express... that would have been a slap in the face of all of you that I've learned from.  I did take my time to survey the beach, watch the birds, and look for variations in the water.  I quickly determined it looked fishy.  I came back with my cast net, went to where the birds where diving, waded out to knee deep and looked for flashes in the water.  On my second cast I hit the jackpot with about 3 dozen of the nicest looking white bait you could want.  I had pre-rigged my gulf surf fishing rod (6'6" St Croix and a finely tuned Stradic 2500 - thank you Mr. Austin) with a two foot flourcarbon leader and a 3/4 oz egg sinker above the swivel.  I set up my bait bucket in the light surf and hooked the pilchard through the eyes.  It wasn't long until we had found a nice school of lady fish.  I know they are not much to eat but what a blast to catch on a 6' 6" rig!  We caught at least 25 and they ranged from 20" - 27", I'd guess between 3 - 4 lbs.  I've heard people refer to them as "tarpon" like for their size but I've never caught a tarpon.  They did get airborn, rip drag, and spit the hook out on occasion.

The next day, same routine but managed a few spanish mackeral in the mix.  I then remembered something someone told me about ladyfish...they make great cut bait and sharks love 'em.  I put a shark rig on my traditional surf rod and decided to soak some bait.  As I continued to catch the lady fish, I noticed the big rod tip starting to bounce.  I pulled in my first black tip...not as big as I'd hoped for but it weighed in just under 6 lbs and was just under 30".  We caught a similar sized one later that day.   Both were harvested and grilled the next day.

 This was a recipe I found and must say it worked out nicely, especially with a few margaritas.

www.all-fish-seafood-recipes.com/index.cfm/recipe/Grilled_Shark_Margarita