"Years ago I would get spooled fishing that beach" said the man behind the counter at the bait shop. "We would catch them, but every once in a while we would hook one that we could not stop."

Just hearing those words got me excited. I had spent the past 48 hours prepping tackle and formulating a strategy for hooking a brown shark from the Cape Cod surf. Now I had an idea of what beach I ought to fish, thanks to the generosity of a local bait shop guy. You never know what valuable tidbit of information you may conjure up from a trip to the bait shop.

It was Tuesday evening, and if I hustled I could get down to the beach just in time for sunset. Sunset, according to the guys at tx-sharkfishing.com, is one of the best times to find sharks in close to shore. And by close to shore I mean within casting range, with your boots planted firmly on the sand.

The advice guided me to a promising piece of shoreline, albeit a shoreline that was quite busy. Up and down the beach were families and children, couples walking the shoreline and a few guys tossing back cold ones. The scene didn't quite fit what I had envisioned, but I was here nonetheless so I decided to start setting baits.

My First Shore-Bound Cape Cod Shark Fishing Report

I felt slightly foolish as I began blowing up balloons in front of all the curious onlookers. It only took 10 minutes until the questions began pouring in.

"You look like you know what you're doing, so I just had to come over and ask" said a middle-aged man holding a Bud Light.

"Well I like to think I know what I'm doing" I replied. "Yet to be honest, this is my first go-around at trying to catch a shark from shore."

The man seemed a little perplexed by my response, and rightfully so. I went on to explain that brown sharks come amazingly close to shore after dark-at least according to what I've been told-and that I hoped to tie into one.

I returned to setting the baits and soon had balloons floating about 75 yards from the shoreline. It was dark now and I could only see the glow sticks I had taped to the tips of the rods. I settled down into my beach chair and prepared for what I expected to be a night of learning, and if I was lucky, maybe some catching.

That's when the glow stick on one of my surf rods took a hard dip down towards the water. I jumped up out of my beach chair and took two giant steps, more like leaps towards the rod.

By the time I got to the rod line had peeled off the reel. The rod and glow stick bent further downward and there was no doubt in my mind that there was a shark on the other end of the line.