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