Targeting Sharks

[Finished Business]

Something I've always been curious about....

Can anyone offer tips on targeting sharks? Strictly for catch and release purposes (i know you can actually keep 1 or 2 salmon sharks, and doggers up to 20) but Im interested in the sporting end of these creatures.

Not really interested in dogfish, but hey if its big enough.... but I know we have about a half dozen sharks in our local waters. From all the shows I watch down the southern coasts it pretty much consists of putting meat in the water and waiting. Reefs and other abundant spots of baitfish is I imagine a good place to start?

I may be fishing uncharted waters here but I would like to hear what input some of you may have...or even a good WC BC shark story is welcome.

 

[nedarb2]

Do some research on east coast forums. To my understanding you drift while chumming the water until you get into some action. I would assume a heavy rod and meat on a big hook is what you would use trailing in your chum trail.

 

[Sculpin]

They are out there for sure.

Give yourself a drifting situation like this with a self bailing deck.

And you will get this following you.

Nice 7' Blue. We could have had some C&R fun with it but decided not to.

Here is a short clip of him mowing down on a pink salmon that got away.

http://s267.photobucket.com/albums/ii297/Coal_miner/Fishing 2011/?action=view&current=MVI_1482.mp4

 

[lordofthesprings]

ive seen some websites offering charters for salmon sharks in alaska and on youtube looks like fun !!

 

[profisher]

I watched a show about some research guys from UBC (I think) that chummed for sharks off Barkley Sound. I think they were six miles off Beale. They chummed for about a week trying to film and dive with salmon sharks. They got into alot of doggies, then on the last day while all the divers were on board their underwater cams caught a Mako come in first, followed a short time later by a 10 to 12 foot Great White!!!!!

 

[Finished Business]

I watched a show about some research guys from UBC (I think) that chummed for sharks off Barkley Sound. I think they were six miles off Beale. They chummed for about a week trying to film and dive with salmon sharks. They got into alot of doggies, then on the last day while all the divers were on board their underwater cams caught a Mako come in first, followed a short time later by a 10 to 12 foot Great White!!!!!

Very cool and as I suspected! OBH claimed to have seen a White Shark, with a similar story of a 6' Blue that followed his tuna trail and ended up taking one of his lures, followed by a fight. Sounds like a whole bunch of fun.

We have a couple of bottom sharks on the west, 6 gill to name one. I have friends that dive in the Sound in areas that apparently have an abundance of 6 gills, though he has never seen one. He thinks one time he dropped in on one because as he reached bottom a fury of silt kicked up and he was left in a murky, scary cloud of shark dust...or so he believes.

A few of the tactics mentioned seem to be the go to method of fishing sharks, with the chum trail and slow drift, but me thinks this is more for midwater sharks...maybe not though. My method for a 6gill should I get a chance would be to anchor up (after the hali course how-to!), tie a perforated 1 gal. chum bucket of some blended fish chunks to a downrigger ball, and just sit with my baited hook and exposed meat. so long as I dont have a hook on the downrigger ball, i should be ok...haha


and before one of YOU jumps on it, I've just noticed what I've done here.....

"just sit with my baited hook and exposed meat"........

 

[Hookin'up]

"just sit with my baited hook and exposed meat"........

I was gonna say
just exactly what is it you want to do to that shark ??

 

[adanac]

Blues and Salmon sharks are quite common it seems on the banks later in the season. Also heard more than a few stories from Commercial fisherman and a few sporties on running into Thresher sharks off our coasts, and i know for a fact a good buddy of mine landed one while trolling a rapala x-rap 2 seasons ago while fishing Albies out of Westport WA. I also have a friend whom i played lacrosse with in college who lives on Long Island NY and is an avid Mako and Thresher fisherman. From what he tells me best bet is drifting in a chum slick with cut baits suspended 8 - 12 feet under balloons.

 

[IronNoggin]

Targeted on Salmon Sharks up out of Hardy a few times now. Heavy halibut rods/reels with 200 lb braid, and 250 pound stainless wire leaders with 2 or 3 oversized stainless hooks. Usually buy a few pinks or sockeye from the local commercial ladz (cheap off the boat) and rig the whole fish as bait. Getting the right ROLL is downright tricky!!

Fished that set-up off the wire, shallow like 25 to 40 feet. Look for large schools of pinks/sockeye, and drop your gear in behind them. Can be painfully slow (makes you want to target the salmon at times) but when the hook-up comes, it is VERY much worth the wait! A lot of the action is on top, and the POWER in these Beasts is simply Amazing!

Never killed one, we simply tagged them and let them go.

Something I WILL be doing again!

Cheers,
Nog

 

[Charter Tofino]

They are out there for sure.

Give yourself a drifting situation like this with a self bailing deck.

And you will get this following you.

Nice 7' Blue. We could have had some C&R fun with it but decided not to.

Here is a short clip of him mowing down on a pink salmon that got away.

http://s267.photobucket.com/albums/ii297/Coal_miner/Fishing 2011/?action=view¤t=MVI_1482.mp4

I remember going for a swim in that spot a week or so before that haha. If you think of the methods used for hali it is surprising six gills aren't caught more often (I know a number of members have got them).

 

[Finished Business]

Heavy halibut rods/reels with 200 lb braid, and 250 pound stainless wire leaders with 2 or 3 oversized stainless hooks.

Cheers,
Nog

Nog, why do you go so heavy with your line weight? I practically have to use the boat when I snag 100lb braid on bottom sturgeon fishing...not to mention a 300lb sturgeon hanging off the rod, I have no hope in hell of snapping it off. (wait for it...haha).


On another related note, has anyone bonked a salmon shark? May be a dumb question, but what did you do with it? Eat? Taxi? Make boots?

 

[nedarb2]

Nog, why do you go so heavy with your line weight? I practically have to use the boat when I snag 100lb braid on bottom sturgeon fishing...not to mention a 300lb sturgeon hanging off the rod, I have no hope in hell of snapping it off. (wait for it...haha).


On another related note, has anyone bonked a salmon shark? May be a dumb question, but what did you do with it? Eat? Taxi? Make boots?

heavier line for abrasion and knicks would be my guess, no worrys of snagging bottom when shark fishing Ide imagine You do need a heavier rod though to really match the line class your using. again, species and target size dependant.

 

[Dogbreath]

On another related note, has anyone bonked a salmon shark? May be a dumb question, but what did you do with it? Eat? Taxi? Make boots?

I haven't eaten Salmon Shark but have tried a few others very tasty meaty fish-does that make sense?

It takes cooking more than other fish (more connective tissue?) so you can do a lot with it.

That being said I'm told the common Blue Shark is quite mushy not bad tasting just a mouthful of mush no matter how you do it up.

 

[Fisher_dude]

Blue sharks have very high uric acid (think urine) throughout their body. Cooking them smells like burnt **** and apparently tastes even worse.

 

[fish stalker]

So I watch these american fishing shows and see them 'C&R' these fish, like sharks and marlin.. big fish you dont want your hands near. The one thing they never actually seem to show you is how they release them? Ive watched closely a few times just to see how close they get in there to flip the hook out but you never see it. Ive seen two now were you dont see them cut the line but you see the plier/snippers and the cut line dangling. Now I know you they say can do this with a deep hooked trout or salmon but those hooks they use are freakin huge. How is it considered 'release' when the fish is not going to live with big butt hooks in its stomach. Like seriously how fast is a hook that thick going to rust.

I was scared to jig for lings for petes sake in case I caught a undersized one that was deep hooked and had to get my hand near there mouth.

 

[Fisher_dude]

I think 95% of those guys are using circle hooks which reduces gut/gill hooking fishing to almost nothing.

 

[Finished Business]

So I watch these american fishing shows and see them 'C&R' these fish, like sharks and marlin.. big fish you dont want your hands near. The one thing they never actually seem to show you is how they release them? Ive watched closely a few times just to see how close they get in there to flip the hook out but you never see it. Ive seen two now were you dont see them cut the line but you see the plier/snippers and the cut line dangling. Now I know you they say can do this with a deep hooked trout or salmon but those hooks they use are freakin huge. How is it considered 'release' when the fish is not going to live with big butt hooks in its stomach. Like seriously how fast is a hook that thick going to rust.

I was scared to jig for lings for petes sake in case I caught a undersized one that was deep hooked and had to get my hand near there mouth.

For a lot of the shows you watch, chances are (hopefully) that they are using dissolving hooks. Im not to familiar with them myself, but I know that some, if not all the shark fisherman use them. Not sure what they are made of but after 2 -3 weeks the hook dissolves into nothing. This would most likely explain why you see them cut the line a foot or so from the mouth, leaving the hook with the fish.

 

[IronNoggin]

Nog, why do you go so heavy with your line weight?

The skin on those guys is like extremely rough sandpaper, and literally chews right through anything less. When these fish fight, they often roll and twist in the line when at the boat. The heavier line simply prevents losing them under those conditions. Certainly don't want to snag the floor or anything else you'd have to rip it free of!

We didn't use circle hooks, but rather overly large Duratain hooks with the point bent back (beaked) even more than you would with plugs. Filed Razor Sharp they manage to get a good bite most of the time. These fish like to chew on the bait a fair bit before swallowing. Never have gut-hooked one, although had a few right down in the maw. Simply cut the line in that case, the Duratain hooks will drop out reasonably quickly. Most we simply release with the gaff, like we do when trolling salmon. aYup, you do get near their impressive business end (Awesome Dentition) but that is part of the Rush!

Don't think I'm quite up to eating anything that pisses through it's skin

Cheers,
Nog

 

[Finished Business]

Great information...as usual! Nog, Im sure you've forgotten more about fishing than I will ever know. Thanks for all your detailed posts!

Shark fishing sounds like its worth a day or two on the water...

 

[Sculpin]

Great information...as usual! Nog, Im sure you've forgotten more about fishing than I will ever know. Thanks for all your detailed posts!

Shark fishing sounds like its worth a day or two on the water...

X2 on both comments. Nog is a great provider of information and any day on the water is worth it.


On the line thing. My son hooked into a Blue shark by accident 2 years ago and that thing headed straight for the bottom. I have never seen a Shimano reel spin that fast. He was 12 at the time and the words coming out of his mouth trying to palm that reel were jaw dropping. Needless to say when it finally got to the bottom it had wrapped itself around the line (30lb mono) a few times and broke off. When he reeled in the line it was totally frayed like 12 strands to one for about 10 feet at the end. There skin is rough like sand paper. I can see why you want to use line like what Nog posted about.