San Diego Fishing Adventures

Thresher Shark Fishing

Sunday, May 03, 2009

After an amazing day with the Bonefish in San Diego Bay Terry and I decided to continue the fun and target some Thresher sharks at the North 9 Mile Bank which is West of Mission Bay about 13 miles. We jigged up about 2 dozen live Mackerel in the morning and then headed out to the fishing grounds in decent conditions. Once we got out there we setup our rods, got the camera gear out and put some music on and began the slow troll process.

After about 2 hours of slow trolling our lures with live Mackerel we finally got a knock down on the black and green lure. Luckily when the shark hit the bait with it’s tail it did not snag it and therefore allowed us to put the rod in free spool for the shark to come back around and eat it. If the shark snags the hook when he hits the bait with his tail they will often drown because of being pulled backwards. This gives you no option for releasing if it is a big female, or if you just want to release it. Mouth hooking the shark also allows for a much stronger fight, which I painfully found out.

The Thresher shark hit the bait that was on my Avet Pro EX wide that is rigged with 300 yards of 80lb spectra and top shot of 150 yards of 80lb Yozuri. I began the battle by standing up and fighting the shark as it thrashed around on the surface and eventually dove down deep. After about 20 minutes Terry put the fight belt on me to help with the rod digging into my stomach. This fish pulled like nothing I have ever hooked before. Despite having an 80lb setup this fish never slowed down or even game me some slack. After about an hour’s battle I thought I could start muscling the fish in, but was proven wrong! My lower back really started to light up and give me issues so I had to start sitting down to relieve my back on the pressure. Terry supplied me with a cold beer once in a while and helped me get my sweatshirt off at one point since I was starting to seriously sweat!

After 2 hours fighting this monster my back was shot, my legs were tired and my arms felt like they were on fire! And even after 2 hours this fish still had the rod bent completely over the rail with the tip going down into the water. At times both Terry and I thought the rod was going to break but never said it out loud for fear of jinxing ourselves. I was amazed by how much endless strength and energy this fish had and began feeling like he was starting to win the battle. As we passed the 2.5 hour mark and began heading towards a 3 hour battle I was able to get the shark turned and start to slowly get him in. Once we had a visual on the shark we knew it wasn’t a large female which we would have released. At that point we decided to not release the shark since I have never kept a Thresher shark before.

Once we had the shark subdued and tied up to the side of the boat I was able to take a break and drink some water, use the bathroom and cool off! With the help of some ropes and the last bit of energy I had we were able to pull the 235lb shark into the boat. We headed back to the docks and weighed him on the Dana Landing scale and took some quick shots.

Overall it was an amazing experience and one that I will never forget! The meat is amazing to eat and feed many friends with a good amount in the freezer for meals. I do not regret taking this shark, but never plan to take another one again despite this one being my first one ever taken. I plan to try and get tags for future catch and releases of these amazing creatures.

Enjoy the shots!

Until the next report, tight lines!
Captain Peter Hamann

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