Been to busy lately so finally took a day off to run out to the bluewater with Tower Todd off the Washington coast on his Albermarle the Iso Kala.
We slept in with the plan to overnight and actually didn't get fishing untill almost noon. Fishing was steady all afternoon and ended up boating 22 by about 8 PM. Now the plan this year has been to pull th little crap and break out the big guns in hope's of acually proving that their are a dew Bigeye or larger Bluefin up here! Dang we are creeping along and I look back and whats that!!! Oh shit monster Thresher chasing one of the moldcrafts!!! Speed up, slow down , drop back shit bite you monster, Damn I get a couple Mackeral rigged up slide em into the spread but no love he slink's off and leaves us sitting there wondering what more could we have done to get him to bite? He tail smacked our lure three or four times but never did bite, any suggestion's guys!!!PEACE
Author, writer, marine artist, charter captain, lure manufacturer, ind. consultant
Coldwaters,
Ahhh, ha-ha! I told you guys that they're up there! Good on ya for proving it. And also for having the first requirement for thresher fishing, those big guns. That's what it takes to play with these ass-kicker fish.
Next, you should troll for them, which you did. First time, and up pops a thresher. Pretty solid proof, I'd say. Next, you have to go about the trolling game the right way, or you will fail. There is not one shred of doubt in my mind that trolling is the very best way of catching thresher sharks, but only if you do it the right way. It also happens to be an excellent way to catch mako sharks. We have had many days of catching both species trolling.
I've written three books on trolling for sharks, both threshers and makos, starting with one called "The Thresher Shark Book". The latest version is "The New Shark Troller's Bible". Now, there is no way that I can even begin to cover the details in a big book here, so in honor of your accidental introduction to one of my favorite fish, I'd like to send you a complimentary copy of the latest shark trolling book. Please contact our Chris Jones through the website and tell him I sent you. Then, read up, eat your Wheaties, and get ready to meet Mr. Kickass Longtail, up close and personal!
So the readers know, the "22" fish referred to here are longfin albacore. They have a terrific fishery for them in the Northwest that is just getting started for this year. Some boats have already had 40-50 fish days before noon with some fish over 40#. Bluefin and bigeye are also there. By-the-way, Cold, I just read a post by a jig/bait boat ex-commi who reported many days of 40-80# bigeye off Oregon and Washington in the past...they are there!
Author, writer, marine artist, charter captain, lure manufacturer, ind. consultant
The same thing is going to happen up in the Northwest that happened down in Southern Cal when the guys up there find out how and where to fish for and catch thresher sharks - bedlam and many happy campers. Biologists have proven that they are there in good numbers while trying to catch the swordfish that are also there. As it is elsewhere, sport fishermen simply will not catch them if they go about it the wrong way. But done right, they can be a consistent catch.
These two guys are excellent anglers, so maybe they will be the ones to pioneer that fishing up there. Heck, it looks like they have already discovered the "where" part of the equation and they are trolling with big guns, so they could easily become the leaders as far as exposing that fishery is concerned. I hope so, because west coast threshers represent one of the best nearshore big game fisheries anywhere, the fish are strong and spectacular, plus they are excellent eating - many of us prefer them to swordfish.
And because they deal with it in a number of their other fisheries, it probably won't be too hard to teach them the importance of C&R and the right fighting and releasing techiques for releasing healthy threshers and only keeping one or two males a year.
Trolling is absolutely the very best way of catching thresher sharks, period!
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
