Shark season has started. It is August — prime time for shark here on Long Island. Anglers have been chomping at the bit to get out there. Most shark anglers know that blue sharks are the primarily bite in June with Makos also making their appearance. Although not as experienced at catching sharks as other species, it gives me a big thrill to go after them. There is just something about the fish that I find fascinating. I am sure the movie Jaws had something to do with it.
It really is not that difficult to fish for sharks. Of course you need much heavier tackle than you would use for catching bluefish or striped bass. Many shark anglers use Penn International Reels with heavy shark or tuna rods. You hear about Penn 50’s or Penn 80’s, but your more anglers are now switching to lighter tackle. Penn 30 and even Penn GTI series reels are more commonly being used. I have landed sharks on a Penn 114 H, and let me tell you, it is some fight. The line test varies but should be somewhere between 30 pound to 50 pound test. I like to use 50 pound just in case a big mako hits.
Generally anglers do not like catching blue sharks because they do not jump like mako sharks. Blue sharks can get pretty big, though — as big as 12 feet! If you haven’t caught a big shark, it is quite an experience. Some say blue sharks even give you a good fight. Here again, if you have never caught one you’ll enjoy the experience. It is something worth doing at least once in your lifetime.
The most important technique used when shark fishing is to set a good chum slick — just like when flounder fishing — only using much more chum. There are different kinds of chum used for catching sharks. I’ll mention two here. The first is bunker chum. Bunker chum is ground up bunker which is then frozen in large tins. Bunker chum is very oily and produces a slick on top of the water. You can actually see the slick flatter than the surrounding water.
The second type of chum is mackerel chum. It is ground up mackerel which produces the same effect. You can get a nice chum bag, but you can also just punch holes in the tin can itself to get the chum to leak out. You should be aware that sometimes the sharks will attack the chum bags and tins, themselves! I like to use a plastic milk crate with the chum right in it. Some say this is over-doing it, but I don’t like to wait long for a hit, and it seems that sharks appear that much sooner when I start chumming this way. Read the rest of this “All The basics” shark fishing article by Captain Ray Kelly here….
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