Shark Fishing part 2
There are many kinds of sharks here in Southern California, but my favorites are the Mako and Thresher, they are fairly numerous, can be caught in a variety of ways, and are great fighters. And I may add, they are awesome on the dinner table. Even a small shark is much larger than most of the other species we catch here in Southern California.
It is a beautiful July day on the Pacific Ocean, we are about fifteen miles offshore. There is a gentle breeze blowing in from the southwest, just enough to keep us cool, and move the boat along at a perfect speed to set a chum line for sharks. For a full days fishing I usually buy two four gallon chum buckets produced by "New Fishall Bait Company", this is the best chum you can buy here in my area.
These chum buckets also work for more than sharks, I find they can double your catches of bass and other game fish when your boat is at anchor, or drifting. All you have to do is cut several one inch holes in the bottom of a frozen bucket, tie it over the side of the boat about 1/2 in the water and they will put out a chum slick all day.
This not only puts a scent trail in the water the game fish can follow to your boat, which is great but also attracts a variety of small bait fish to the boat, that hang around and feed on the chum and they also become part of the chum trail. When the larger fish come up the chum line and see all the little fish swimming around your boat, the dinner bell goes off for them. You also have a ready supply of live bait usually not available at the bait dock.
A light spinning rod and a small hook with a small strip of squid works great for mackerel, and a #12 hook with a squid tentacle works wonders on smelt.
These chum buckets also work for more than sharks, I find they can double your catches of bass and other game fish when your boat is at anchor, or drifting. All you have to do is cut several one inch holes in the bottom of a frozen bucket, tie it over the side of the boat about 1/2 in the water and they will put out a chum slick all day.
This not only puts a scent trail in the water the game fish can follow to your boat, which is great but also attracts a variety of small bait fish to the boat, that hang around and feed on the chum and they also become part of the chum trail. When the larger fish come up the chum line and see all the little fish swimming around your boat, the dinner bell goes off for them. You also have a ready supply of live bait usually not available at the bait dock.
A light spinning rod and a small hook with a small strip of squid works great for mackerel, and a #12 hook with a squid tentacle works wonders on smelt.
Back to our shark fishing trip: Our chum slik has been doing its magic for about an hour when suddenly the clicker goes off zzzzzzz, we let the shark have about twenty feet of line, put the reel in gear, and the line comes tight and the 12/O circle hook sets in the corner of the sharks' mouth ( no need for a strong hook set with a circle hook, just let the line get tight and the hook sets perfectly in the corner of the mouth )
Another advantage of circle hooks is if you miss the fish the hook isn't pulled out of the bait and the fish usually comes right back and eats the bait again. When the Mako feels the hook he goes airborne, sometimes ten to fifteen feet in the air. Now he takes off on a long reel smoking run, in less than one minute a hundred yards of line is gone from the reel, your heart is going almost as fast as the line going off the reel.
Twenty five minutes later theshark is at boat side, he looks to be about one hundred and fifty pounds. We quickly take a couple of pictures and let this one go by cutting the leader six inches from the hook, we usually don't kill fish this big as they are spawning size and are important fish for replenishing the species in our local waters. Most of the anglers who fish with me are sport fishermen and let most of the fish they catch go, keeping mostly smaller fish that have been hooked deep and have a poor chance of surviving when released.
Another advantage of circle hooks is if you miss the fish the hook isn't pulled out of the bait and the fish usually comes right back and eats the bait again. When the Mako feels the hook he goes airborne, sometimes ten to fifteen feet in the air. Now he takes off on a long reel smoking run, in less than one minute a hundred yards of line is gone from the reel, your heart is going almost as fast as the line going off the reel.
Twenty five minutes later theshark is at boat side, he looks to be about one hundred and fifty pounds. We quickly take a couple of pictures and let this one go by cutting the leader six inches from the hook, we usually don't kill fish this big as they are spawning size and are important fish for replenishing the species in our local waters. Most of the anglers who fish with me are sport fishermen and let most of the fish they catch go, keeping mostly smaller fish that have been hooked deep and have a poor chance of surviving when released.
The days of filling the freezer are over if we want to be able to catch anything ten years from now, or have a decent chance of seeing our grandchildren have the thrill of catching these wonderful game fish we cherish so much. So remember keep a few for dinner, let all the big ones go to produce the next generations thrills, and cherish every moment you spend fishing.
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