Mako Drifting

[Fishfinder]

Well said!

Capt Joe

[chumtini]

But I have to draw the line when it comes to creeps like this guy who suddenly shows up here out of nowhere, obviously trying to scavenge off of all of the work that I have put into developing my products over many, many years and who has not only cloned my product after deceiving me into teaching him many of those hard-earned secrets, then turns around and copies them and even uses a motto and catalog name that is a near dead ringer of mine. Frankly, I want to puke every time that I see that loser's logo here, but I have never said a word about it until now. And if you have ever designed, tested and worked your ass off for years to develop something special and then had someone like this person picturing the same, exact thing on websites that you have cherished and been a member of for many years, you will understand my anger about that sort of thing being done.

Sorry, but like I said, I couldn't deal with this any longer. I'm finished writing about it.

Still kickin ass and takin names. Well done Fred!!

I personally, like your posts. Keep 'em coming.

-Chum

[Bert Rodgers]

Fred, thanks for all the good stuff.

It's not easy to ignore noseeums either.

Bert

[stoketh1]

Great posts. I'm inspired to break out the kite this season and will definitely try power chumming! Has anyone had any luck with the mako magnet or menhaden oil?

[Squidnation]

Just quick suggestion - I have caught more makos on a kite-fished dead-bait downwind of the boat (and therefore on the opposite side to a slick) than I have on a bait actually in the slick. There could be several reasons for this, and the one I believe in most is that by nature I think a mako is more selective and sensitive than a blue shark, and many fish actively check out the whole vicinity around a boat that's fishing, before finally eating. That bait, moving and slapping the surface downwind, just cranks them up something rotten. And more often than not, the mako on the kite-bait is a fish we have not seen in the slick at all.

If there are any hammerheads in the area, they'll also pick the kite-bait, almost every time. The bait needn't be anything fancy - a mackerel hooked once through the head is fine. It's the movement and lack of hardware in the water that does the trick I think.

been smacked by quite a few bluefins doing this as well.

[Captain Fred Archer]

Thank you for the nice words and support, SFC brothers.

I've kite fished, but never really had to down in Mexico and never while shark fishing. I went over to power chumming for the latter long ago and never looked back at just drifting again. The results when power chumming are so much better than just drifting the way that we used to do it, it's downright ridiculous! Plus, I love eliminating trash fish and shark species that we aren't interested in catching.

Taking it a step further and going over to the teasing and bait and switching way that we do it adds the benefit of hooking every smaller fish on the smaller tackle that it's more fun to catch them on, but being ready when that big mako or thresher shows up. And sharks are even more aggressive than marlin when it comes to staying after a bait that they've tried to eat, but that seems to be getting away. That results in all "sight bites" and excellent hookups.

I would think that running a bait off of a kite would work well when power chumming because it is basically a slow trolling technique and many of the serious kite guys who I know run them by trolling. Still, it would be "blind fishing" with hooks in the bait and that would bring along all of the negatives of the wrong sharks and trash fish tearing up your baits, no size tackle versus fish size versatility, meaning you'd have to fish all big guns and beat up every dink, or run light stuff, have fun with the smaller guys, but get destroyed by the big momma's. No bueno!

Nowadays, with (hopefully) recovering population of smaller and medium size makos and less truly big ones, being able to match the gear to them is a great thing as far as I'm concerned.

It's good to be back talking fishing again. That's what this great site is all about.

[Flatdog]

Question how light is light when trolling mako 30lb 20lb 15lb 12lb??

[Captain Fred Archer]

Dog,

"What is light tackle?" That's one of the beauties of power chumming and bait and switch fishing. Once you've teased a shark up alongside - and believe me, nothing is more serious than a game shark that is after a victim that just seems to be getting away from him over and over again - it's up to you what kind and size of tackle you want to pitch an armed bait to. You rule 100% in that regard, not me or anyone else, just you. And on top of that, you get to watch every one of the sharks bite, so you can make the finest kinds of hook sets.

It's a blast and a half, you eliminate any and all junk fish, every shark that you choose to hook up is matched up to whatever size and type gear you like and it is "hands on fishing", where everyone gets to participate, from working the teasers to pitching to the fish. Myself and the others who have switched over to this kind of shark fishing just love it and there will no going back to the old ways that we used to do it.

Here's a picture of one of the teasers from the book. We call it a "Top Dawg". This one is intended for threshers, which frequently feed on quite small bait. There is a larger version for when makos are the target. We also do great with whole dead bonito teasers on the West Coast and bluefish are the ticket on the east coast. We sell them, but we show how to make and rig all of our teasers and baits in the book for those who want to make their own.

Hope that answers your "light tackle?" question.

Gotta go...we're bit on a deep teaser and trouble is on its way up. Oh, yeah!

Website www.fredarchersworldoffishing.com