Who woulda thought fly fishing for sharks would be this much fun...

[Evan B]

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.

Yeah, I go tuna fishing 1. to fill the freezer, and 2. for fun. If the ocean is nice enough to run my boat out, I'm getting my groceries, dammit!

But if we have a day like we did on my last trip out and were done well before noon, maybe I'd throw some blood out while we eat our lunch to see what happens.

 

[Nick Clayton]

It's funny, I've only been witness to maybe 10 PNW mako hooked on rod and reel between boats I was on or boats I was near, and I haven't seen a single one jump. Most have been landed extremely quickly. When they swim into a bait stop the standard procedure is to rip the gills off an albacore, throw them on a cedar plug or whatever troll lure, and drop them down to the shark. Once hooked, they've tended to not do a while lot and get gaffed quite quickly. Could be totally different with a fly rod though. Blues act much different when hooked on a fly rod vs. when they eat our chovies, and I'm really not sure why. Honestly I find blues to be kinda fun on the bug rods.

I've also never seen a mako over 100 lbs hooked out here, with the bulk of them coming in that 30-60 lb range. I cant even imagine dealing with one like you guys got down south!

The only sharks I've seen out here that jumped when hooked are threshers or salmon sharks, and my boat has only ever hooked one of each of those.

The thresher we hooked jumped about a half dozen times. I honestly wasn't aware that they were known to jump.


This is a screenshot from a cell phone video a customer took of the thresher we hooked. Fought it for maybe a half hour before its tail slapped the line and broke us off. Was pretty shocked a shark this big ate a single anchovy. Such a cool animal.

 

[clarkman]

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.

that's kinda how I personally look at it...Then again, I wouldn't want to be the guy stuck fighting a shark for all that long while the other tuna guys are waiting around so we can get to the next bait stop for tuna.

 

[SilverFly]

It's funny, I've only been witness to maybe 10 PNW mako hooked on rod and reel between boats I was on or boats I was near, and I haven't seen a single one jump. Most have been landed extremely quickly. When they swim into a bait stop the standard procedure is to rip the gills off an albacore, throw them on a cedar plug or whatever troll lure, and drop them down to the shark. Once hooked, they've tended to not do a while lot and get gaffed quite quickly. Could be totally different with a fly rod though. Blues act much different when hooked on a fly rod vs. when they eat our chovies, and I'm really not sure why. Honestly I find blues to be kinda fun on the bug rods.

I've also never seen a mako over 100 lbs hooked out here, with the bulk of them coming in that 30-60 lb range. I cant even imagine dealing with one like you guys got down south!

The only sharks I've seen out here that jumped when hooked are threshers or salmon sharks, and my boat has only ever hooked one of each of those.

The thresher we hooked jumped about a half dozen times. I honestly wasn't aware that they were known to jump.


This is a screenshot from a cell phone video a customer took of the thresher we hooked. Fought it for maybe a half hour before its tail slapped the line and broke us off. Was pretty shocked a shark this big ate a single anchovy. Such a cool animal.

View attachment 11559

Not sure why there'd be a fight difference between standard gear and fly, but I've noticed the same thing with blues. Nothing to write home about on a bait rod but they are actually kinda fun on fly rods. The only thing I can think is the flyline drag must freak them out somehow. Based on the sheer number of jumping mako on the fly vids, I would guess the same effect (whatever it is) also applies to pointy nose sharks.

Thresher on fly gear would be cool as hell ... until they were at the boat. Then scary as hell with that tail whipping around.

 

[Nick Clayton]

Not sure why there'd be a fight difference between standard gear and fly, but I've noticed the same thing with blues. Nothing to write home about on a bait rod but they are actually kinda fun on fly rods. The only thing I can think is the flyline drag must freak them out somehow.

Thresher on fly gear would be cool as hell ... until they were at the boat. Then scary as hell with that tail whipping around.

I know Evan sure learned the hard way that they have a little more spunk in them when hooked on fly gear when Brian passed one off to him a couple years ago lol

Ya, line drag could have something to do with it. I dunno. I was pretty surprised the first time I hooked one on fly gear and it was actually a bit fiesty. Nobody will confuse one for a tarpon for sure, but definitely more lively than the lame roll around and tangle everything up routine they usually show when hooked on standard gear.

Maybe it just boils down to the feel of a fly rod, or a difference in rod strength or pressure or something. I really don't know. I find a lot of albacore fight a bit differently when hooked on the fly as well, or so it seems to me. They just seem a bit more squirrely to me when hooked on the fly. At least when casting and stripping.

After my one encounter with a thresher I came away thinking that I really want nothing to do with one at the boat! Those tails are incredible! The one we dealt with was pretty damn big. We estimated probably 10-12' with the tail. I'm not sure any of my fly rods would have been able to do much with that thing. It didn't do anything very fast, but was more like a train. It would just hang deep and we couldn't budge it, then it would slowly start moving and just pick up speed. It took several runs that were probably close to 200 yards and all we could do was just hang on. Likely would have taken a looonnnng time to get anywhere near the boat. As it was the closest we got it was probably 75 yards or so.

 

[The T.O. Show]

Yeah, saw that. A Conway Bowman trip is def in my future. I'm not sure when, but hopefully sooner than later.

I've been doing this trip with Conway for like 5 years now and will be back down there in July. He's such a down to earth dude and super knowledgeable about everything fly fishing. We were going to check the mako thing off the list and be done with it, but we keep going back because we like fishing with him so much. Just do it, you won't regret it. And San Diego is a hoot even if you don't find the shark you're looking for.

 

[SilverFly]

SD has so much to offer sport fishing wise both inshore and offshore. I want to go back to do a fly trip for tuna and yellowtail, but it could be a challenge finding the right boat and captain. I'd much prefer fishing a smaller boat set up for fly fishing like we did for mako but the tuna would have to be pretty close for that.

Either that or get enough fly guys together to charter one of the bigger boats. I don't see walking on board a regular tuna charter with a bugstick going over well.

 

[Bagman]

SD has so much to offer sport fishing wise both inshore and offshore. I want to go back to do a fly trip for tuna and yellowtail, but it could be a challenge finding the right boat and captain. I'd much prefer fishing a smaller boat set up for fly fishing like we did for mako but the tuna would have to be pretty close for that.

Either that or get enough fly guys together to charter one of the bigger boats. I don't see walking on board a regular tuna charter with a bugstick going over well.

Guy, I use to live in San Diego move up to Nor Cal in 1963, I still have some family down that way. I may be able to find some info on that kind of trip.