Fall = Makos...forget the blues!

[Captain Fred Archer]

When I lived and fished back east, the Fall was my favorite time for makos and threshers...no crowds, some great Indian Summer days and excellent shark fishing. To us, as it is here, blue sharks were a constant pia. So, we eliminated having to mess with them by power chumming and using some other special techniques and tackle. Below is a picture of a nice little chunker (the only mako they took this year) just caught by Tom Carpenter aboard Capt Kevin Malone's Diablo Sportfishing charterboat out of Pocasset, Mass. I quote Tom...

"I bought your New Secrets of Shark Chumming book this Fall and boy did it make a difference! We used your power chumming techniques and actually caught a mako! It was one of the rare makos we've caught in 15 years of shark fishing and the best thing was that we avoided any and all blue sharks in the process. Thanks so much!"

[BlueH20Boss]

awesome picture Fred, but you would never catch me grabbing or holding a mako unless it was a gaff handle.....That thing looks ready to reach around and say hello.

We got bit off by one last weekend, thought it was a white up in the spread at first. I don't think there is anything more exciting than a mako bite on the troll!

[F.stop]

catch'm going up...cathch'm going down. love fall sharkin!!great time for the bigger makos....fish are fat and hungry! they also fight harder w. the colder h2o temps. they move quicker on there way going down south (2-3 weeks).....but if andwhen u get the weather window take it fall sharkin is the best!!

[BlueH20Boss]

are they mostly concentrated out in the canyons or do they make it back to their 30 fathom hotspots and even closer for theshers like B Buoy ? I have never targeted them in the fall but i would love to polish up the ruger 10/22 for one more trip haha

[F.stop]

for ny,nj,del, md, va the 20 fathom line holds the most life in the fall for sharks and big bluefin etc. here is why 20 fathom wrecks hold sea bass=bluefish=bluefin + sharks.....look for slicks on the way out, tuna birds,shear waters

[Wireman]

Used to catch some fatty threashers while giant bluefin chunking on Monster Ledge and surrounding areas of the hole. Good times and some powerful bastards!

[Sea Witch]

A few years ago trolling home from the Lindy (late October) we caught 2 150lb makos on Horse Bally Islander combos. That was after we got bit off by a huge wahoo on the same rig. Water was in the high 60s. Good luck and go get em.

[Captain Fred Archer]

I see that some of you know about the Fall sharks. Good. And yes, bluefin and makos are often found in the same area at that time of the year. There is at least one very sharp charter captain and tournament winner back there who started mixing some shark lures in with his BFT stuff last year. He reported catching lots of sharks and even having multiples of both makos and bluefin on at the same time! Said his charters loved it. (Same fellow won a major NJ shark tournament this year with a big thresher he caught trolling.)

As for finding them, it's the same old story - find the big concentrations of bait and you'll find the sharks. That could easily be and often is the twenty line, but both inside and outside of there can produce, especially when it comes to the threshers and in their case, inside the twenty can be the hot ticket. Pay particular attention to Fall mackerel runs.

I keep saying, and many are starting to believe, that makos and threshers are great troll fish...in fact, that trolling is by far THE best way to catch threshers. We get a very large number of teaser bites the way that we power chum and troll. Man, those who have "been there, done that" know that they are exciting as hell! A thresher that keeps trying to beat the crap out of a teaser that just won't die is wild enough to witness, but when a mako skyrockets a big teaser run where it should be, close, well, it's a real mind bender!

This Fall sharking thing is a blast and lasts much longer than most think. Like all non-traditional fishing things, though, ya gotta try it, or it won't happen.

Good luck!