Catching sharks on the flats

[alamborne]

Hi all,

Almost every trip report I read about the Bahamas mentions seeing sharks on the flats while fishing for bonefish. I'm not a "fish snob" - I count being able to catch a dozen different kinds of fish a trip one of the great things about saltwater - so I'm going to try to hook some of those babies on my upcoming trip. That brings me to my questions.

First, if you've caught small sharks on flies, what patterns did you find work? I know Lefty's shark fly and I've tied up some big 6-8" orange flies in a similar pattern that I figure might work for barracuda & sharks.

Second, and far more important, what do you do if you actually get one in? I'm very nervous unhooking barracuda and even northern pike, and haven't caught enough of anything toothy to get it figured out. Shark has to be at the top of the toothy spectrum, and I've heard they can even bend around far enough to bite a hand holding their tail. I may just resort to cutting the line above the wire tippet when it comes down to it. Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Andy Lamborne
Denver, CO
alamborne.co@netzero.net

[Guy]

Hi all,

First, if you've caught small sharks on flies, what patterns did you find work? I know Lefty's shark fly and I've tied up some big 6-8" orange flies in a similar pattern that I figure might work for barracuda & sharks.



I don't know what you mean by small, but on my last Bahamas trip I went went with 2 dozen shark flies and everyone of them ended up being attached to a lemon or blacktip shark from 3 - 8 feet long. The size and colour you mention are about right. I like combinations of orange with either red or yellow tied on big wide gapped hooks like 6/0 - 8/0 gamakatsu octopus. You need something super sharp with a good bite to make it stick and stay.

On many flats you typically will have some shots every day while poling around and even when you are wading. In ankle deep water you only have to worry about the little guys of 3 feet or less. You need at least knee deep water to find the 4 foot plus skarks (I saw a lemon on a Long Island flat that we estimated to be 11 feet long!) Sharks on the flats on hard to catch unless they are "on the hunt", once you've seen a hungry shark you will recognise the difference between a cruising shark and one "on the hunt".

If you really want to get into the sharks, think chum. Hang a small freshly caught butterflied cuda, jack, snapper, grunt etc. over the side of the boat and stake out along the channel edge of the flats during times of good tidal flow. It is truly amazing how far the sharks will come in on the scent trail. You can often see them coming for several hundred yards. Three ways to catch them as they come in. The "purist" (hard) way is to make a cast just in front and to the side of a shark "on the hunt" about 40 - 70 feet out. If the shark sees the fly in it's state of agitation, it may grab it. The hard part is making sure he sees it. If you let the shark get too close, then the scent off the chum becomes too strong an attractant and it is even harder get the shark interested in your fly. We usually pull our hanging chum fish out of the water if this happens. If you have lots of chum, you can start tossing bits of chum out giving Mr Shark a feed. Toss your fly out with the chum bits and hang on. The third way (most effective) is to let your fly soak in the chum bucket between shots. Once you scent your big colourful fly, Mr Shark has no trouble finding it.



Second, and far more important, what do you do if you actually get one in? I'm very nervous unhooking barracuda and even northern pike, and haven't caught enough of anything toothy to get it figured out. Shark has to be at the top of the toothy spectrum, and I've heard they can even bend around far enough to bite a hand holding their tail. I may just resort to cutting the line above the wire tippet when it comes down to it. Any advice is much appreciated.



That's what we do! And we fish for them from a boat!

If you or your guide haven't any hang ups about using chum, the shark fishing can be unreal. We have had non stop action for two to three hours on the right tide with up to 7 -8 sharks at a time circling the boat. The lemons can get huge, but the 3 - 6 foot blacktips (spinners?) are absolutely wild!

Guy

PS Catching the chum is a lot of fun too!

[teflon_jones]

When I was in South Andros in December, I'd see at least 2 sharks every time I went wading. They were usually cruising very close to shore in the clear tidal area where there was no grass. Sometimes they came into the grass, but most of the time they were within 20' of shore. They were usually around 3-4' long. I didn't have any specific shark flies with me, but I did throw my bonefish fly their way on the off change that they'd bite it cause I ****ed em off! :)

When you get them close, just take out your clippers and cut the line as close to the fly as you can. It's fine to leave a foot or two of line on a shark (or even 3 or 4). They'll end up biting it off or otherwise getting rid of it pretty darn quick. As for being able to bite you if you're grabbing their tail, they'll have a pretty darn hard time doing that. But a shark's skin is extremely abrasive and can cut you, so you don't want to grab it unless you're wearing gloves. Your best bet when shark fishing is to just reel the fish in close and cut the line. Don't bother touching it! Also, be wary of the fish if it looks calm. That's when they're most dangerous because they'll catch you unawares. A shark is never calm! They're just trying to trick you so they can eat your hand. :) Here's a pic of a nice friendly 6 footer I went snorkeling with in December. I didn't have my fly rod with me unfortunately.

[Jim B. Hawes]

Never caught a shark, though I had the opportunity on a 5 ft. black tip that followed my deceiver to within 20' the beach, but as I only had one salt water fly line, I was worried I would lose it in the coral heads, or break my 8 wgt., though not enough to keep me from casting to it. Hard to think of a better story than I broke my rod on a shark. :cool:

To any of you shark wrestling folks with some experience: what size rod and weight of leader do you recommend for 3 - 6 ft sharks ?

I had brought with me some barracuda leader with wire tips, is this husky enough to get into sharks with? I definitely plan on trying for sharks next trip to the Bahamas.

[Guy]

Hi Jim.

You could get away with a 10 wt for the 3 - 6 footers. However, I use an 11 wt TFO TiCr and I am not over gunned, particularily when some thing in 6 - 8 foot range decides to grab on. I use a WF11F SA tarpon taper. I use about 8 inches of 50 - 60 lb single strand steel for a bite tippit. I am not a big fan of braided wire for sharks. You get a lot more strength for a much smaller diameter with single strand. Start with 12 inches of wire and haywire twist the fly to the wire. The wire is albrighted to about 1 foot of 20 lb hard mason class tippit. The class tippit is looped (surgeons loop). I tie these up (fly, wire and class tippit) ahead of time and keep them on a leader stretcher. My leader is 7 foot - 5 feet 40 lb hard mason butt with a two foot 30 lb hard mason taper. The 30 lb mason is looped with a large enough loop to slip the fly through so that the class tippit, wire and fly can be attached very easily and quickly when the action is hot.

I find hard mason best to use as shark skin is very abrasive and they have a tendancy to roll on the leader. It is also important to have a weaker link in you terminal set up than your backing strength. A 5 foot black tip or 6 foot lemon will definitely get a good chunk of your backing wet in a hurry. Since I use 30 lb backing, hence the 20 lb class.

Good luck. Targetting sharks on a slow bonefishing day can turn into an angling experience you will never forget!

Bahama Dreamin'

Guy

[alamborne]

8 feet, 11 feet?! If I see one of those while wading I'll probably have a heart attack trying to get out of the water. If something like that came up close to you, what would you do? Just stand very still, try to scare it off with arm waving?

A 3-foot shark sounds more my speed. Thanks for all the advice.

Andy

[Guy]

Most sharks you'll encounter while wading will be in that 3 - 4 foot range, the bigger sharks need more water than you'll likely wade in. They are not interested in you, but they may be interested in what you catch. It's not a good idea to drag around any freshly caught fish behind you.

The biggest sharks are more often found on outside flats with access to reef areas and deeper water. Most sharks in these areas will be in the 4 - 7 foot range but there are bigger ones! Set up a fresh chum line for 3 - 4 hours on a good current in an productive area and it is truly amazing what can show up.

Guy

[Jim B. Hawes]

Guy,
Many thanks for sharing your knowledge on shark FF. Just got back from Elbow Cay, Bahamas; had a blast sight casting to 4' cruising black tip and lemon sharks in the shallows, while waiting for bones on the tide change. Also cleared those suckers out of the area before the main event, too! A bit tricky though, trying to C&R shark when knee deep wading without a boat. :eek: