FS Digest

I want to know if I'm fishing in the same place as people who are fishing and catching sharks if that will affect me catching any fish ?

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by WaterLizardInc

flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!

Yep, not only do the sharks scare your fish away, but they also take the fish that you have on your line. They are nasty, stay the he!! away from them. The same is true with dolphins.

Colt M4 Loc: NW Florida panhandle

Bottle Nose Dolphin can do the same thing as far as messing up a good fishing location. If they show up, we move. These things also travel a few miles up a fresh water river as well...

Able Man Loc: North Coast (Cleveland, Ohio)

I've eaten quite a bit of shark, over the years, on and off. (When opportunity presents itself...)

Catfish hunter Loc: Riggins idaho (Paradise)

Sharks are a local species if you're where sharks are. The other fish are used to them being there. I fish for salmon, king cod and other fish in Alaska where there are a LOT of salmon sharks. We see them every time we go out. They don't seem to keep us from catching lots of fish every time.

Able Man Loc: North Coast (Cleveland, Ohio)

The best way to handle the shark, is to skin them, before they "lay around" too long... Certain species seem to have a tendency to "take on" a somewhat undesirable flavor, from the skin.

Catfish hunter Loc: Riggins idaho (Paradise)

They don’t have a urinary tract and the pee through their skin. They are also warm blooded, like a deer or elk or any other land animal. They need to be gutted a cooled immediately after dispatching or they will spoil quickly. In Alaska we gut them. Wash the out real quick and hang em on a chain back in the water to cool quickly. Most are way to big to throw in the fish tote on ice. An average salmon shark in Alaska is over 6 feet long and many up to 10 feet. They’re a great white family animal up there. In about 30 minutes we hang em on the boom and skin em.

Able Man Loc: North Coast (Cleveland, Ohio)

[quote=Catfish hunter]They don’t have a urinary tract and the pee through their skin. ... ¡¡Damn!!... Was NOT aware of THAT

Catfish hunter Loc: Riggins idaho (Paradise)

[quote=Able Man]

Nasty huh? But true. Just pick up a package of shark in a grocery store some time that still has the skin on it. You won’t get rid of the smell for a week after you touch it and that’s on the OUTSIDE of the packaging.

Catfish hunter Loc: Riggins idaho (Paradise)

We use a length of 3/8” log chain as a leader about 5 feet long with a whole dead, rotted chicken on a hook. BIG circle hook, troll really slow where we’ve seen a shark. It’s hooked to an electric 10,000 pound winch. When the shark hits we speed up the boat to play him out for a while and make sure he’s hooked good. They swallow a hook like a catfish. Basically hit the bait about 30 mph and turn. Pretty much hook themselves. We’ve had to surgically remove every hook. When we get the shark winched up within shooting range we dust em with an AK and let em drag till they’ve stopped moving for quite a while. You don’t want a live one on the boat. Even with about 10 AK 47 holes in his head hooked to a winch. Once they stop we winch em in, gut em, washed em out real good and pit em right back in the cold ocean water in Kachamak bay out of Homer there. Tow em around till they’re cooled out real good and then string em back up on the gin pole and skin em. They stink to high heaven when you skin em. After that we wash em again real good and throw em back over board and let the cold salt water finish cleaning them up. It’s a process and I’m not sure if all sharks smell that bad but the salmon sharks sure do. This is one of my buddies from Homer.

Able Man Loc: North Coast (Cleveland, Ohio)

They didn't pay enough in Florida, years ago, to "jump through all THEM firey hoops"... We've had some "pretty green ones" (LIVELY) come over the rail {out of a gillnet}... Get one man to "ride'm cowboy" while another will take it's head off.
We always saved the "livers", for dumping right near the inlet, under the belief that the sharks will avoid areas that "stink like" their own livers... I don't know if there's really any factual research been done regarding that, or if it was "just a thought" that someone had, years ago.