My five-year-old (Margot) and I were sitting on the couch, one August day, watching the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week. In her usual fearless tone, she turned to me and asked, “Let’s go catch a shark!” Thanks to a last-minute cancellation the next Sunday, my wife and daughter were able the charter. A full cast net of pogies, a short run into the Mississippi Sound, and away we went sharking. The baits were barely in the water even for five minutes when the big bull shark hit. My wife grabbed the singing reel, and I dropped the anchor ball to chase the fish. Margot assumed the duty of lead cheerleader for the next 20 minutes. When we finally got the fish subdued with a tail rope, my girls were howling like crazy. The big bull shark was well over 100lbs, making me the coolest Dad and Husband of all time!
Sharks and most fishermen have a love/hate relationship. My feelings for sharks have changed a few times over the years. When I was much younger, all I wanted to do was catch sharks. They were the coolest, most fascinating fish in the water to me. Fast forward several years later, and I was guiding offshore trips out of Venice, LA for Tuna, Snapper, Dolphin, Grouper, etc.
Nothing infuriated me more than having sharks steal our hooks, precious live baits, and fluorocarbon. I moved back home to MS in 2006 and began guiding inshore trips out of Bay St. Louis. Catching big black tips, bull sharks, and spinner sharks became the highlight of the day for many of our customers. Soon thereafter, my love affair with sharks was born again.
The majority of our inshore charters are expecting to encounter speckled trout, redfish, flounder, black drum or maybe a triple tail. Telling a newcomer to fishing or a young child that they can catch a shark and you might make a friend for life. All you salt water veterans think back to when it was more about the pole bending than the box filling. On the Mississippi Gulf Coast, there are few things bigger and badder to fight, than a big mean ole shark.
From May to October, finding sharks is usually not a problem, most days they find you. I can not lie, nothing will shut down a trout bite down quicker, than a pack of hungry sharks. Either pick up and locate another trout bite or break out the big poles and join the party. If you are looking to pick a fight with a shark, most days it is fairly easy. If the sharks don’t find you, there a few things we look for to locate them. Any large school of bait fish (pogies, mullet, ladyfish, rain minnows) will usually have a few predators close by. Catch a few for bait and a few for chum. A steady flow of bloody, oily fish will keep the sharks around for hours. If the bait fish are not around, get your map out, and find the deepest water around. The ship channels around the barrier islands are normally a safe bet. If you find bait fish stacked up in the ship channels, you are in the right place. A shrimp boat dumping its by-catch almost always has sharks nearby, looking to get a free meal. One of the most exciting ways to target sharks would have to be drifting the bars off the barrier islands. When the water is clean, and you can sight cast to the sharks, it is off the charts fun.
I try to keep at least two shark set ups on the boat when the water temps get over 70 degrees (the warmer the better). Hook a big hunk of fish onto an 8/0 to 10/0 circle hook. Live mullet, white trout, and pogies are like candy to sharks FYI. Cable works well, but I prefer using 4 to 5 feet of #9 wire. It is much easier to tie a haywire twist than to fool with crimps. A 100lb swivel brings it all together, and the weight is optional. I usually rig one with a 2-ounce egg sinker and free line another. Eighty pounds of a braided line will allow you to handle sharks well into the triple digit club.
Big lever drag reels work just fine, but I have actually been leaving mine at home. Beefed up spinning rod and reels are much easier to handle and are made very powerful these days. A 6 to 7-foot heavy spinning rod will handle anything that swims off the MS Gulf Coast. On the business end, I really enjoy using my big Okuma spinners. We have been very pleased with the new Okuma Azores, RTX, and V-System spinning reels, in the 65-80 classes. Using these reels, baits are easier to cast away from the boat and are perfect for sight fishing. Instead of using a clicker on a lever drag reel, I just loosen the drags way down. Since we use circle hooks, when the fish hits, just tighten down the drag till rod loads up.
Shark fishing at an early age fueled what would later develop into a serious fishing addiction. For whatever reason, I was infatuated with those big critters. In the northern Gulf, sharks are certainly not the most sought after species. Inshore fishermen are literally spoiled with our exceptional fishing for trout, reds, flounder and many other species. Try and think back to when you were just getting started in fishing. I bet somewhere in your memories, there was a desire to do battle with JAWS. If you are trying to get youngsters or newbies into fishing, this is it! There is absolutely no better way to get someone “hooked” than to get them on a big shark. You can work it into a trout and redfish trip, hire a guide, or just set up in a deep hole and chum. And for those of you fishermen that have never wrestled a big shark, don’t knock it till you try it. As always, have fun and be safe… Oh, and did I mention that sharks are delicious too?!
These recipes are from cooks.com:
– MARINATED SHARK STEAKS:
- 1-1/2 lb. shark steaks
- 2 tbsp. soy sauce
- 2 tbsp. balsamic, rice or wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 2 tbsp. oil
- 2 tbsp. chopped parsley
- 1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
- 1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
- minced green onions and parsley
- Cut the shark steaks into service-sized pieces.
- Place them in a glass dish. Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, oil parsley, garlic and black pepper. Pour the marinade over the fish and marinate for half an hour, turning at least once.
- Remove the fish (reserving the marinade) and broil 4 to 5 inches.
- Brush with the marinade before turning.
- Serve with minced green onions and parsley.
Accompaniments: Rice and vegetable pilaf, leaf lettuce tossed with parsley-lemon dressing, and French or Italian sourdough bread.
Fish should be cooked only until it flakes easily. Check it often to prevent overcooking, which will not only make it rubbery, it will render it tasteless. Creates six servings.
– GRILLED SHARK MEXICANA:
- 1 1/2 lbs. shark or firm fleshed fish
- 1/3 c. lime juice
- 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp. parsley
- 1/4 c. beer
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
- Salsa and Avocado to garnish
Combine all ingredients, except salsa and avocado. Pour over shark. Cover and marinate in refrigerator. Drain shark, reserving marinade. BBQ or boil 4-5 minutes, basting with marinade. Turn and cook another 4-5 minutes until flakey. Garnish with salsa and avocado. Creates four servings.
– SALSA FOR SHARK MEXICANA:
- Makes approximately 1 1/4 cups sauce.
- 2 med. tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- 3 tbsp. diced green chilies
- 1/4 c. chopped red onions
- 2-3 dashes liquid hot pepper sauce
- Salt
Combine all ingredients and blend well. Let stand at room temperature or in refrigerator for 15-20 minutes to blend flavors.
Capt. Sonny Schindler
Shore Thing Fishing Charters
Bay St Louis, MS
www.shorethingcharters.com
228-342-2206