Mako Drifting

[LONGFIN2]

Alright, I only get in two or three shark trips a year before the tunas show up. But if the YFT are a no show again I'm gonna concentrate a bit more on Makos. For you mako pros what are you looking for to set up on? I hear all this talk of structure but are you talking about, wrecks or hills? Either way, a drift over a wreck or hill is going to be relatively short. Do you normally just keep drifting or do you move to another hill or wreck and do another short drift. I hate breaking my slick but sometimes a tide or wind change will stick me on featureless bottom. Will makos follow your slick from the original structure you set up on into no-mans land or will they turn off? I've caught my share and I know the rigs, baits, and the rest of that, just trying to figure out when to move. Also do you find most of your bites come on top a hill or in the deep between them?

[lpf]

When I shark fished up there I always concentrated on temperature breaks. When a temperature break was over structure, even better. Usually when I set up on a break the boat would drift down it, staying on it. If I was able to fish a break over structure, I would first find the drift direction, then run up it a mile or two, lay my slick, and then set the baits out in a position that it would take me about an hour before I hit the structure. Either way I always worried about temp break first, and then structure second. Never once went without sharks.

lpf

[TheBigI]

I would concentrate on a more contoured bottom structure lumps and so forth over a wreck. Also it is important to look at water temp and bait concentration.

[On The Edge]

Structure can be anything that makes a change, from bottom countour, to a wreck, to temp break, including the thermocline. With mako it is my opinion that the first things to look for are clean water with good temps and the evidence of bait in the area. A mako can and will follow a sent trail to it's source. Next is good chum and fresh bait. Live bait is better but not always required.

[Nobody]

Look for good water temp first, then the cleanest water in it, then Any structure holes , hills, rockpiles, wrecks and bait . Think of where smaller fish could hide to get out of the current Makos need to eat. If you have passed over good structure and your drifting into never never land don't be affraid to go to the back of your slick and do the same drift over if you really like the spot and everything is right or try power drifting into good teritory if its not to far. Also bumping ther baoat in and out of gear to keep you in good country before you get out of it. This stuff applies mostly to inshore shark fishing , if you run off the edge fish temps and clarity as well as bait concentrations of any kind. I have caught sharks out in the middle of nomans land and when I thought I was past all the good ground. Build your slick and they will come.

[LONGFIN2]

Thanks guys, just trying to sharpen my shark skills. Never could figure out when to break or stick with it. One other thing, I know captain Verbanas used to overnight way out in the deep for the monsters, anyone ever have any luck in 20-30 fathoms at night?

[DropinBack]

anywhere that you catch them during they say they also can be caught at night...

[leeroychristison]

Youll catch even more at night as they are predominantly a nocturnal animal. They seem to be even feistier at night too.

[Roddy Hays]

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.

[Caveman Sportfishing]

Some very good responses to the question so far. I do not think there is any one correct answer and I have been sharking for Mako's over 35 years and I still often wonder should I break my slip when I drift past the good structure or keep drifting over bottom that looks like it would not hold any life. The answer is I have caught them both ways over the years and overall hate to break my slick after 3-6 hours of drifting or even 2 hours. There seems for me at least no golden rule but this applies to inshore sharking along 20-40 fathom lines and for Mako’s only and occasionally targeting Threshers but not as much these days as in the past. Many of the Threshers I have caught over the last 15 years are breeders in our local waters and most of my customers do not like the taste of Threshers and prefer Mako so we prefer targeting Mako’s only most of the time. Most inshore Mako’s we see these days are throw back size around 60-100 lbs or a little bigger and we just do not come across the numbers anymore of the 200-300 lb ones we used catch 10-15 years ago at least inshore in our local waters. We seldom see pronounce temperature breaks in our local waters like I see down off Morehead City, NC in the winter when GBT fishing but I do try to find water in the 62-68 degree range but have caught quite a few in 70 degree plus water but the ones we have caught in the warmer water are all generally smaller so I prefer water in the low to middle 60’s. If the area we are sharking has lots of marine life in it such as has bluefish, mammals, birds, sand eels with overall good color then I do not break my slick and keep drifting and chumming. Mako's will follow a slick over featureless bottom so if it looks quote “fishy” I just keep on drifting and hoping. I do chum more than most and always use one can of Mackerel and one of can of bunker at the same time plus cut up small pieces of fresh bunker and Mackerel to spice up the slick. What I do try to do these days is pick locations far offshore that allows for long drifts that cover extended areas of bottom structure that will allow me not to have to break my slick for many hours and most of this is around the 30 fathom lines where we fish. I used to fish smaller areas with lumps and hills right along the 20 fathom line but over the years the Mako’s became much smaller on these hill in shallower water so we have moved offshore more and hoping for a little bigger ones at least over 175 lbs. Many I know prefer sharking around a wreck with a smaller area of bottom structure and move numerous times throughout the day when off the good structure and this is how we used to shark quite a bit in the past when there were more Mako’s around but not too much anymore. I cannot say what is more right or wrong when sharking for Mako’s but I do hate to break a slick and most times do not unless I feel the water is just flat out lifeless once we drift beyond the structure. What I really prefer is do go offshore inside the local canyons and fish structure where we see the better water and temperature breaks but fuel costs and legal limits in the bigger tournaments we fish often prohibit going too far offshore but if anyone wants the best chance at a 300 lb plus Mako this is where I would go and love the idea of night fishing for them but we just do not get anglers that want to do this kind of fishing since they can only keep on shark per trip. What I do know is there seems to be far less quality size Mako’s inshore than in the past and we run nowhere near as many Mako charters these days with the one per day limit and lack of the bigger 200 lb plus ones but I still look forward to sharking every spring as it is the beggining of our offshore season.

We did pretty well last year Mako sharking and this is more of the size Mako's we try to target these days but we have had to run further offshore to find at least a few of them. We use almost all mono leaders these days and find them to be quite effective.

PS: I would love to try fishing a live bait such as a bluefish on a kite but we have not done much kite fishing up north except for tuna on occasion but may dig the kites out of storage and give it a try this spring when sharking