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Arthurs
Antics ... SHARK! |
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Since
Jaws first appeared sharks have been among the most popular creatures
on the planet. NEWS REEL’S INTREPID TRAVELLER
KEITH ARTHUR RE-LIVES HEROIC TALES OF SHARK FISHING IN THE
US!
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Keith enjoying the cornish sunshine 
Blue Shark: most graceful  A
Beautiful Sunfish |
For
anglers sharks are a prize to be cherished, especially off the
UK coastline and when I travelled to New York State for the second ‘Shark Cup’ in June
2004, I had a good feeling about the prospects. I’d fished
the event in 2003, and released 9 sharks in two days, so expected
at least a similar level of sport. What followed was simply mind-blowing.
The Shark Cup is to shark fishing what
the Ryder Cup is to Golf, without the European influence; it’s
Brits v/s Yanks. The format is simple: one Brit and one Yank
per boat to catch and release sharks. 30lb and 50lb test tackle
is used, each angler fishing one of each outfit and points are
scored for releases, with bonus points for 30lb test.
Blue Sharks,
possibly the most graceful, beautiful fish I’ve
ever seen, are the most prolific species, but mako and thresher
are possible, as well as the very odd intruder hammerhead, tiger
and even (think this in hushed tones) great white, although none
of the last three showed themselves this year. Most of the fishing
is done 20 or so miles east off Montauk, Long Island, the extreme
easterly tip of New York State.
The boats are 38-46 footers, rigged
for travelling even further offshore. The reasons for the abundance
of fish are several: the preservation of fish stocks for leisure
angling, strict limits on anglers’ catches,
and the increasing ‘catch and release’ policies of
forward thinking captains, encouraged by the International Game
Fish Association (IGFA) who endorse the event.
Tactics are as follows:
leave harbour and stop around Montauk Point, in the tidal rips,
to fish for bluefish as bait. These fish are similar to our bass,
but pale blue, and with a decent array of teeth. Once in shark
territory…the captain looks for broken ground
in about 200ft of water and sets up a drift along a contour if
possible…a chum line of minced bunker; a plankton-eating
member of the herring family is set. Occasional chunks of fish
are tossed out as groundbait to lure the sharks too.
Three rods
are set, each bait under either a big float that is set to slide
down the line on striking, or a balloon, which bursts when a shark
dives with the bait. The bait furthest from the boat, about 60-75yds
range, will be set at maybe 50ft deep, the next one will be 35yds
off, at 30ft deep, then one at 15yds, set at 15ft. The fourth rod
is kept either as a ‘pitch bait’ should a fish appear
in the chum, a regular happening, or lowered directly under the
chum bucket, a perforated plastic tub filled with frozen chum that
slowly thaws, leaving an oily trail.
So, here’s what happened to me. Day One was excellent. I
fished with Alan Kenter, from New Jersey, who beat me six sharks
to four, all blues. On the second day, I had one of THE great days
of my angling life that will stay with me for ever. My boat partner
was Herb Rattner, IGFA ‘Hall of Fame’, with 161 World
Records to his name and 51 years of shark fishing under his belt.
We started well, with blue sharks appearing very quickly and we
were going fish for fish, up to 3 each, when I lost one and Herb
didn’t, giving him a lead. I then lost another, and Herb
took a shot at a fish under the boat, which should have been on
MY pitch bait rod, and hooked it up before I could get a bait in.
Fair play to him, another fish in front.
Then I hooked something
that fought a bit differently. A VERY fast take on the distance
rod, which had a 6lb bluefish livebait under the balloon, and a
strike met not with the usual blue shark headshake and run, but
a heartstopping dash, followed by three explosive jumps. It was
mako time, my first ever!
I soon had the fish under the stern,
all 150lb+ of it, when the hook pulled! We then went fish for fish,
mainly blues between 100 and 200lb, when with the clock coming
up to ‘lines out’ at 3pm, and
Herb firmly attached to a massive 200lb+ blue, I picked up the
distance rod to wind in. The big bluefish livebait, about 9lbs
in weight, splashed on the surface, and what I thought was a sunfish
dorsal fin approached.
Suddenly the fin got taller and taller,
until I realised it wasn’t a fin but a tail, and in front
of the tail was a BIG thresher shark. The shark circled the bait,
smashing down with its tail to stun the fish. Threshers have comparatively
small mouths, and want to engulf a dead fish rather than chase
around a live one. Eventually the balloons sped across the top,
the line tightened and I whacked the reel into gear, and struck
several times…I wanted this
fish, and I wanted it BAD!
Herb joined me in willing the massive shark closer to the boat,
revealing at the same time that in 51 years of shark fishing he’d
never even SEEN a thresher next to a boat before. That made me
even keener to beat the fish, and after 10 minutes the leader
appeared off the stern. Then it disappeared again as the fish set
off for the bottom, 220ft below.
An agonising 12 minutes later
the leader appeared and the mate grabbed it, slowly drawing the
bulky, but sleek grey/copper shape towards the gunwhale. Once alongside
the boat, the mighty fish, 15 feet long including the huge scythe
shaped tail, lay there like a lamb until the wire leader was cut,
then it smashed its tail into the stern before disappearing.
I was
shattered, more emotionally than physically. Definitely a fish
of a lifetime, and the experience of a lifetime. Herb took the
points on the day, but I took the memory and it will live with
me forever. On day 3 I had my one success, beating Art Pepper by
a goodly margin, and helping the Brits defeat the Yanks on home
waters. I suspect we’ll be doing it all again next June,whatever
else happens, I don’t think that catching that thresher shark
will be beaten in my mind. Unless it’s great, and white,
and I don’t even want to think about that!
For the Article in it's Original Format, Please Click Here |
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