After having a great day yesterday throwing flies at blacktip and lemon sharks with my client, I figured I would write a bit about shark fishing. In my opinion, sharks are highly underrated and seriously overlooked as target species on the flats. Some even turn up their noses at the slight mention of shark fishing, especially on fly. Maybe it’s not for everybody but I do think that the naysayers should try it before they knock it.
Shark fishing can really save you on a day when the fishing for the more desired species is not so good but I am totally into it at almost any time, except when the tarpon fishing is hot. This was exactly the case yesterday. On thursday we had a coldfront blow in and make a mess out of what had been some very good permit fishing. While Don and the rest of the guys were out pre-fishing for the March Merkin and hoping for just a couple shots, my client and I spent the day throwing at 50 to 150 pound fish on fly. He had never shark fished before and didn’t really know what to expect but he ended up loving it and we turned what would have been a lackluster day of permit fishing into an action filled, drag screaming, Scott 11 weight breaking day of shark fishing. We had bites from six blacktips and after getting my client to wait another second on the hookset, having a fish bite through the single strand wire, and finding the weak link in his Scott fly rod, we were finally successful in landing a blacktp of around 80 pounds. We also hooked, fought, and pulled the hook on a cobia that showed up on the back of the biggest nurse shark that I have ever seen. Throw in four fly caught jacks and it adds up to an exciting day that would have been mediocre at best had we stuck with permit fishing.
It looks like the weather is straightening out now and just in time for the March Merkin. Those guys really deserve it after the disaster that was last year. Hopefully you will see a post later in the week telling you that Don has won the tournament!
Ryan
