Delaware OCMD Sharking

[gradywhite273]

Thanks Tim, you gonna be down there....

yup , ill be full of teak dust.

[joeksr]

Went out today from Indian river.
Found 59.5 water.
Could not get a bait in the water.
First rod set to go down deep never made it to the bottom.
Tap Tap Tap,
thought cool Bluefish.
NOPE.
A lighter rod with cut bait brought up a spiny dogfish.
Thats all folks. could not put a bait in they didnt eat.

Maybe the thresher aint there yet )
Maybe when they get there they will chase those
*&%$#@ dogs out.

[Proheat]

Went out today from Indian river.
Found 59.5 water.
Could not get a bait in the water.
First rod set to go down deep never made it to the bottom.
Tap Tap Tap,
thought cool Bluefish.
NOPE.
A lighter rod with cut bait brought up a spiny dogfish.
Thats all folks. could not put a bait in they didnt eat.

Maybe the thresher aint there yet )
Maybe when they get there they will chase those
*&%$#@ dogs out.

Well Joe, At least you got offshore!! I just finally got the boat all cleaned and waxed up and put it in the water tonight. I'm gonna give it a shake down cruise locally and make sure I'm ready for when the sharks arrive..................you already know the place and it will be full of threshers guessing in about 2 weeks.

[joeksr]

Well Joe, At least you got offshore!! I just finally got the boat all cleaned and waxed up and put it in the water tonight. I'm gonna give it a shake down cruise locally and make sure I'm ready for when the sharks arrive..................you already know the place and it will be full of threshers guessing in about 2 weeks.

Yep, Thats where we were.
Good new is, I think. Looked them dogs up on google.
Seems 59 is the top of their comfort zone.
Few more degrees and maybe they will go away.
Haven't had a problem with them before. Just a little to early
yet.
If ya need a hand hunting them whip tails give me a call.

[Mirage36]

Capt Mike on the On Delivery out of IR brought one in on Saturday @ 175 to 200lbs.

[joeksr]

Capt Mike on the On Delivery out of IR brought one in on Saturday @ 175 to 200lbs.

Any idea how far offshore ?

[neilinov]

I heard he caught him trolling while in the bluefish tournament this weekend. I think somewhere around the lightship.

[Snapp]

Any idea how far offshore ?

We were out near the lightship looking for blues on Saturday. There was a report on the radio someone had a 300-400 Thresher hooked up for a few mintues. Saw it jump out of the water and it was gone.

They are here......

[Captain Fred Archer]

Dogfish truly are a pia, but catching a lot of them doesn't mean that the game sharks aren't around - the facts are, to me at least it means that you are fishing a very good way to attract and catch dogfish, not the game sharks that are likely to be in the same area. That last point is pretty much confirmed by some makos actually being caught now and the exclamation mark is that one caught trolling in the bluefish tournament.

If you want to catch the game sharks and not the doggies, trolling and/or power chumming are excellent ways of doing so. In fact, do it right and you simply will not catch a single dog, but if there is a mako or thresher around, you will catch him or her.

Most of us out west don't want to catch blue sharks either, and we can almost completely eliminate them from our catch. There's an occasional "speed merchant" among them, but that is pretty rare and that beats the heck out of having to deal with blue shark after blue shark, big, small, or medium, all day long and probably missing makos or threshers while tied up with those blue dogs.

Some charter guys aren't opposed to catching some blue sharks, especially a few big ones for charter parties that are focused more on just shark fishing than they are the game sharks. They can also be a good thing for a group of clients to each "catch a shark" as opposed to only one or two catching a mako or thresher.

But here too, dogfish can be a pia and so can bluefish, and trolling and power chumming can eliminate them while allowing you to pick up some fresh bluefish for use as teasers and baits when you need them. And the blue shark option can remain, but it becomes an option, not an automatic, in that you size them up and bait big ones only if that's what your customers want. Meantime, you are always ready for that mako or thresher with just the right sized gear for the size of the fish when he arrives alongside and waves his tail or flashes a toothy smile at you.

I repeat, catching a lot of dogfish isn't a sign that there are no game sharks around, but it is a good sign that you are fishing an excellent way to catch the dogs - but not the sharks. And as an added not-so-hot footnote, in areas where there is a thermocline, dogfish are going to be a constant phenomenon and pest, no matter what the surface temps are. Blue sharks too.

And please don't forget colder, greener inshore waters if you are looking for threshers. They are actually big fans of green water because of the big numbers of filter feeding small baitfish that are often in it. And when it comes to water temps, the threshers usually are present in even colder water than makos, but many fishermen drive over them on their way further offshore.

Good luck to those who learn these new shark fishing games. And if you choose not to, well, I'm not going to beat you over the head or twist your arm. I have nothing to gain if you do change or don't, except maybe selling you a book for a few bucks, so that's okay with me. I'm just trying to help.

Here are a few power chumming "tools of the trade" from The New Shark Troller's Bible that explains and illustrates the entire game. First, a teaser leader and how to rig it, then a teaser and how to rig it too, and then a pitch bait.