Who woulda thought fly fishing for sharks would be this much fun...
- Thread starter Brian in OR.
- Start date
flybill
Life of the Party
That was without a doubt one if the most amazing life experiences ever. Even so, I have no desire to catch anything that big ever again. Getting a "small" one on the fly is absolutely still on my list. Just a nice little 6 footer would be perfect.
EDIT: Makos are present out where we fish albacore, so it's not a crazy idea to having a wire leadered shark pattern ready.
I had a couple of flies out there last year. I think that I'm going to just have a setup totally rigged and ready to go this next go around.
Better start tying some of those milk crate flies.
I had a couple ready as well. We've seen a few big ones jump at a distance out there but so far I've seen only one smaller, proper fly rod sized, one at the boat back in 2015. I didn't take much note of it at the time since the tuna were keeping us busy. Pretty sure it was a Mako though. It was about the same size as the larger blues (5-6') but wasn't blue and had the super pointy nose.
The good news is once they show up at the boat they tend to stick around. So there should be plenty of time to tie on a rigged shark fly. With the big one in San Diego, we had oodles of time to debate on whether to grab a fly rod or the heavy bait outfit.
Uh, the only problem with that is the insane numbers of blue sharks that would surround the boat within minutes. Don't bring one of those onboard either. The scary thing about blues is how flexible they are. Almost like a fat eel with fins.
I think the best bet for a fly caught Mako out here is either getting lucky and having one swim into a baitstop, which is not exactly rare, or a dedicated trip trying to target them by getting a chum slick going and just playing with blues and such until one shows up.
Putting a bunch of blood in the water while albacore fishing seems like a good idea on the surface, but there is no more surefire ways to screw up good albacore fishing than having 20+ blues show up.
IMO it's not super feasible to target both on the same day, at least on a charter. With a finite amount of time to work with, it's likely just too difficult to try to balance both. Unless of course fishing was absolutely wide open, and you could load up on albacore in short order and then sit out there and try to bring in a mako....which may or may not take some seeerrrriooous sweet talking to the captain who would then be out of a rare early day and some actual sleep.
I've long wanted to go out and just not even think about albies, just bring a bunch of carcasses and sit down and drift while keeping the chum going and see what shows up. I strongly believe that it would be very doable to get makos to come in. Definitely not in the numbers you'd see down south, but I also believe there are far more of them out there than we realize. The downside is that even on a sport boat that's an expensive trip, especially considering the unknowns involved.
Putting a bunch of blood in the water while albacore fishing seems like a good idea on the surface, but there is no more surefire ways to screw up good albacore fishing than having 20+ blues show up.
IMO it's not super feasible to target both on the same day, at least on a charter. With a finite amount of time to work with, it's likely just too difficult to try to balance both. Unless of course fishing was absolutely wide open, and you could load up on albacore in short order and then sit out there and try to bring in a mako....which may or may not take some seeerrrriooous sweet talking to the captain who would then be out of a rare early day and some actual sleep.
I've long wanted to go out and just not even think about albies, just bring a bunch of carcasses and sit down and drift while keeping the chum going and see what shows up. I strongly believe that it would be very doable to get makos to come in. Definitely not in the numbers you'd see down south, but I also believe there are far more of them out there than we realize. The downside is that even on a sport boat that's an expensive trip, especially considering the unknowns involved.
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Nick, it seems to me most of the mako sightings (large sharks launching vertically) on trips I've been on have been on the way in, or out, to the albie grounds. Does that fit with your experience? If so, then the shorter run mako trip might not be quite as cost prohibitive? It would only take one successful proof of concept trip to make it a "thing". Just a thought.
Hard to say. For me personally the bulk of my mako sightings have come while actually tuna fishing. I'd be confident that this is the same for most of the people I work around. Now, I can't say that is because there is a higher number further out in the warmer blue water, or if that's more to do with the fact that while trolling or on a bait stop I'm able to pay far closer attention to the large area all around me rather than when I'm running in transit and more focused on driving and watching the water in front of me more closely, ya know. This doesn't include reports of large fish spotted by random customers, as it's always difficult to know the experience level of people and how likely it is that they know what they're looking at, so in this case I'm just referring to stuff that I myself have put eyes on. I have definitely seen them jump while running to or from, more so when I was a deckhand and not focused on running the boat, but even then a much higher percentage of sightings came while actually tuna fishing.
I really don't know much about mako as far as their preferred habitat and such, but I can say that I don't ever recall seeing one on anything but a tuna trip. I've spent a large amount of time fairly far offshore, but not in "tuna water" while targeting halibut or deep water lings. Most of our halibut days are spent 25-35 miles offshore. Of course those trips don't involve anywhere near as much blood in the water, so that could definitely be a factor.
I reckon if a guy was gonna make such a dedicated trip it would be prudent to research makos preferred habitat and probably talk to as many people as possible with a good number of offshore days to get a better idea of what kind of water to focus on. I've put eyes on a good number of them personally, and have confidence in what I hear from other captains, but that's all anecdotal of course and there a lot of variables involved that certainly doesn't make any of that info the gospel by any means. As it stands right now, if I was going to do a trip without any time to research, without hesitation I'd be heading out to the warmer blue water just based on what I've actually seen.
I know about a half dozen people who have done the mako thing out of San Diego. Every single one, without exception, said it was probably the most disappointing fishing experience they've had. They all caught them, but said it was nothing like you see on YouTube. The ones that do the minutes long cartwheel displays are the exception, not the rule. Most just sound down and are hard to get back up. Just a heavy weight slugfest, but not in a good way. You just spend the day sight fishing in to a chum slick, which gets old quick according to them. I personally haven't gone, I'm just passing this along.
I could see someone like Silverfly enjoying the trip, but I've heard so many disappointments that it definitely doesn't sound up my alley.
I could see someone like Silverfly enjoying the trip, but I've heard so many disappointments that it definitely doesn't sound up my alley.
That's the first I've heard anyone finding it disappointing, but described like that doesn't sound fun. Although disappointment is generally about expectations. Seeing a video like the OP is a setup for major let down.
I dunno, I only have the "Jaws" data point with the big one we fought. That was a slugfest, and it only jumped 3 times, but it never sounded. For me it was amazing to see, and actually make eye contact with an animal that can be fairly described as a "sea monster". Feeling that much power and speed on the line was tiring, but also humbling and awe inspiring at the same time. Not that I want to go through that grind again, but catching a smaller/sportier model on fly gear is definitely on my list.
As far as pursuing mako in the PNW is concerned, it should be do-able - just seems wrong to make the long run to the tuna grounds, and then fish for sharks. With tuna around, I'd have trouble sitting on a chum slick all day. Still, there's no reason to not have wire rigged flies ready in case a 12wt sized mako showed up on a bait stop.
