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The sharks that you will be wanting to catch during a tournament on
Cape Cod are generally blues and makos, with makos being the more
difficult species of the two to catch.
The Oak Bluffs tourney is usually around the last week in July, if
memory serves me correctly. The captain that I have been chartering for
sharks for the last two years won the Oak Bluffs tourney last year (for
a customer).
You will probably want to use 50 lb class tackle. 30 lb may be more
sporting, but you don't want to drop a fish during a tourney. 80 lb
tackle is often used by the "big boys."
You should have 12-15 feet of at least 200# wire as a leader. The
hooks should be about 9/0 or so. SHARPEN them.
You can buy frozen chum, usually menhaden or mackerel works well.
It is generally useful to attempt to catch some live bait, or at least
get some fresh bait. The sharks do like it better.
You should spend some time to catch some fresh blues the day before,
and keep them cool.
Your chum (frozen 5 gal container) should be tied in a milk crate on
the side of the boat, so it allows the wave action to disperse the
chum. This is the no-muss no-fuss method of chumming. Occasionally, you
should toss a small, solid morsel of fish into the slick. If you elect
to use freshly ground chum, you should keep a steady slick going (do
NOT stop if you hook up). Remember- you are trying to attract them, not
feed them. You don't need a river of chum.
Once you have the chum slick going, it is time to set out the baits.
The best baits are fresh- fresh bluefish fillets, mackerel (whole or
fillet) menhaden, etc all work very well. If you can't get fresh, use
frozen, but fresh is definitely preferred. The baits should be set out
on balloons. You generally want to space them out- 1 around 20 feet, 1
around 40 and 1 around 60 feet deep. The Deeper the bait, the farther
it should be from the boat (chum sinks). ie- the closer baits should be
the shallowest.
When the sharks come, and if you're in the right place it shouldn't
take more than an hour or two, get ready for action.
All of a sudden, one of the balloons will start swimming away. (I
guess I should have stated that the reels should be on free spool,
clicker on.) Let it alone! Put on your belt (and harness), and pick up
the rod from the holder. The shark may or may not stop to eat his meal.
In any case, you should count to at least ten s l o w l y before
attempting to set the hook. When you decide you can't take it any more,
put the reel into gear, and aim the rod at the fish, so he can get all
the slack out of the line. When the line comes taut let him have it a
time or two. Now the line should start peeling off the reel. Sit back
and relax- don't try to reel yet. When the initial run ends, then start
to quick pump the shark to turn his head. Once his head is turned,
don't let him turn it around again.
Eventually, after a couple of runs, the shark will come grudgingly to
the boat. When you have the leader at the tip, you will want to lighten
up on the drag a little (compensating for it with your hand on the
spool). The leader man should grab the leader (wearing gloves) making
certain not to wrap the leader around his hand! When the shark some to
the surface, he will generally twist around in the leader a few times.
Now is the time to a) hit the fish with the flying gaff (should already
be cleated) b) pop the little bugger with a 12 gauge slug in the head
via shotgun or bang stick c) attempt to stop his thrashing long enough
to get a tail rope on him or d) tag him and cut the leader. By no means
should tagging be the last option. It should be first. Most tournaments
require that you tag and release some or all of your fish.
In any case, once the fish is caught (and is to be kept), the tough
part begins. This large, prehistoric animal will not understand what is
going on- he will only know he doesn't like it. He will be thrashing
around like crazy. He should be tied off to the side of the boat. His
tail should be tied up out of the water. Often people will cut the
veins near the tail to bleed the fish to death. this has the added
value of attracting and exciting more sharks.
Be extremely careful of the teeth. With makos, their malevolence is
obvious, but blues seem less dangerous. They are still very dangerous,
and you should not go anywhere near the mouth of the shark, even when
it APPEARS dead. Sharks can live for a long time out of water. In fact,
the captain that I charter told me that he caught a very large blue one
time, and dragged it up onto his lawn. The next day, when he walked
past it, it snapped at him! He thought it was dead. Almost doesn't
count.
I hope you find some of this informative. The next thing to do is to
buy a copy of Saltwater Sportsman or Sportfishing. They seem to have an
article about sharks just about every issue. I have told you enough to
catch sharks.
Where to go: We found a great spot about 5 miles west of the banana
buoy south of the cape last year. We caught a total of 8 sharks, the
largest of which was my #300lb 12ft blue shark. All our sharks last
year were released.
The Doctah
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