How to Fish for Mako Sharks
Occurring off both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America, the shortfin mako shark (cousin of the longfin mako, which is less common as an angling fish, given that it lives in the deep waters of the open ocean) is, arguably, the best game fish in the world. Strong and aggressive, and averaging between 6 and 10 feet in length, the shortfin mako shark requires specific skills and strategies from the fisherman to be successfully landed.
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Things You'll Need
- Fishing gear (a stand-up rod with a minimum of 500 yards of line with a weight bearing of 50 lbs. and, preferably, a wire leader of around 5 yards)
- Bait (chum and either fish flesh strips or live bait, such as sardines)
- An ocean-going boat
Instructions
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Prepare the water with chum to attract the sharks, making sure your baited line is in the water for their arrival. Either keep the boat moving slowly forward or jigg your line to make the bait move, as mako sharks hunt by sight and are attracted to movement.
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2
Approach mako shark fishing differently from other types of angling. When fishing for other (usually smaller) species of fish, the angler will fight to bring the fish aboard as quickly as possible. This is not a technique to be applied when fishing for shortfin mako sharks. The mako is too strong to be fought and, if brought to the boat too quickly, its propensity to jump out of the water makes for the potentially dangerous situation of the shark leaping into the boat. Keep a steady 15 lbs. of drag on the line and move the boat so that the shark remains off the stern, and wait until it exhausts itself.
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Persevere. Mako sharks are aggressive, tenacious hunters. So, even if an individual frees itself from the hook, don't give up. As soon as possible, re-bait the hook and re-cast. It is fairly common for a just-hooked shark to return and take another bait.
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Reel in the mako only after it is completely exhausted. This will lessen the chance that it will jump into or attack the boat. Harpoon to the rear of the dorsal fin rather than the head, and once dead pull in and gut.
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Tips & Warnings
While shortfin mako sharks average around 8 feet in length and 400 lbs. in weight, there is the potential to catch much larger specimens. The record weight recorded by the International Game Fishing Association was 1,221 lbs. of a shark measuring 13 feet, caught off the coast of New England.
Be careful even when the shark is (supposedly) dead. Even sharks that have been gutted can still thrash about in the boat.
References
- Photo Credit requin mako image by patrick CRONNE from Fotolia.com
Comments
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Gota love the mako.
