Sharking On The Flats By Capt. Zac Grossman So many northeast anglers love shark fishing. In fact, it's a mainstay of the offshore fleet up there. Unfortunately the season just isn't long enough and the most exciting of the species (makos and threshers) have an even shorter season within that. Florida is the place for all you shark lovers, even when it is blowing because we have two coasts to choose from. I just recently got into the gulf side action after several weeks of "blow outs" in a row, thanks to very strong easterlies. It started with a phone call on a Monday morning after another weekend on land. "Cabin fever" was setting in. An article I read a long time ago came to mind. It was about shark fishing on the flats. Unfortunately I never saved it and so had no recommendations to go by (I hope you're smarter about this than I was). I called a top marina in Islamorada because they have a huge fleet of flats boats. I asked about shark fishing. Without hesitation they offered up Skip's phone number. The following Sunday my friend and I were traveling south on US1, noticing that all the flags were stiffly pointing to the southwest; same depressing pattern. We met the captain at 7:30 a.m. He was all smiles, felt the weather was just fine, had some barracuda for bait, and was very confident. He was already doing his job; now we were excited too. It was a pretty long ride, almost an hour at flats boat speed to a spot he said was "shark city". The twisting and turning trip leaves one very impressed with the skill of these flats guides because there are practically no visible markers along the way to keep you from running aground. Finally we idled up to a spot next to a channel between two flats. Skip dug the long push pole into the soft silt and then tied the bow line to it. This is how flats boats "anchor". The pressure of the tide and/or wind on the boat bends the pole so it won't pop out of the hole. He put over a chum bag, and filleted a large barracuda. The carcass was hung off the stern, its scent wafting away on the strong current. Skip suggested that we cast bucktails to supplement our bait supply with ladyfish. I was busy rigging my fly rod for sharking, but David grabbed one of Skip's light spinners. The first cast resulted in a nice ladyfish jumping and splashing all over the surface. In less than a minute it jumped off. The next cast produced one that did make it aboard. I was done and ready to join David, when Skip told me that my leaders wouldn't cut it. I didn't argue (even after preparing several with Boa Wire during the week). He cut off the shock and rigged the fly to single strand wire. Then he tied this to the tippet with an Albright. "You won't have to finesse these sharks", he said. I grabbed a light spinner and started to cast. For the next fifteen minutes we were constantly tied to fish, including two nice trout, two undersized redfish and some small jacks. Then Skip announced that our first visitors had arrived. Twenty feet off the stern, three sharks were cruising back and forth in our "wake", visibly excited. I stepped onto the aft deck next to the poling platform and cast a big, bright, chartreuse fly at the sharks. The current made it pulsate but also kept it right at the surface. I had to lift back on the rod, and then drop the tip, so the slack would allow the fly to sink a foot. We were in four feet of water. A shiny bronze blacktip spotted the offering and nonchalantly inhaled it. I strip set the hook and had to be mindful of a lot of line on the deck to clear. I wasn't used to such short casts. The fish took off across the surface, twisting and turning and when it got to the channel, came completely out of the water. How exciting! It came down with a crash and my leader parted. Skip said that if I stick to the IGFA rules on leaders, this might happen a lot. I didn't care, that was the challenge. David stepped up to the plate and took one of Skip's heavier spinning rods. The hook had a few feet of wire leader knotted directly to the braided line. He flipped out a chunk of cuda and closed the bail. It took all of half a minute till David set the hook several times and the shark streaked away across the flat. When it finally came to a stop, David worked up a sweat trying to pump it toward us. Skip didn't want to leave this honey hole unless absolutely necessary. After a while the fish started circling the boat and it looked like the fight would soon be over, but it was really just gathering strength for another run. It took off again, showing us that the battle was going to be longer than we thought. Wrong! After the run the rod tip popped up and the line went slack. David reeled in and to our amazement the hook was still there. He had just spit it. I sent another fly out on a short cast and then wiggled the rod tip back and forth, feeding fly line through the guides to create some slack and help the fly to sink. The line came tight while I was doing this, so I just set the hook right from the reel. This fish went straight away on a slow run, both dorsal fins sticking out of the water so we knew it was a lemon shark. It wasn't very fast but it wasn't slowing down either. At about 150 yards Skip decided to give chase. He told David to throw a bait out and hook a second one to play with, and then he headed for the bow. He took the "chum on a rope" with him and tied the barracuda to the push pole, dangling a bit into the water, and then disconnected. Meanwhile David was hanging on for dear life as he too was tied to a nice sized lemon shark (both were between 80 and 100 pounds). Skip maneuvered us around the boat attempting to keep the two lines away from each other and working both fish so as not to be spooled by either. The battles seesawed between tug-of-war and just hanging on during a run. David got his to the boat first, long enough to get a good look and then it rolled up and broke the line, which is what we wanted to happen anyway (lemons aren't known for eating quality - too many pits). Now my fish stubbornly circled about 50 feet from the boat. It was a nice fish and looked tired enough to bring close for a photo release. I leaned hard on the rod to move the shark one more time, when I suddenly found myself back casting; the fly had come loose. Oh well. I can't say we weren't having fun. This fight had lasted over an hour. We headed back to our spot, marked by the white push pole about half a mile away. Only half a barracuda carcass hung from it. We tied up, but decided to have some lunch before joining the fray again. These sharks weren't going anywhere. Now we wanted to be more selective and target just blacktips because they are wilder fighters and we wanted one for the grill. They are very good; in fact they are often sold at Publix, a big Florida supermarket chain. It was David's turn, so he went aft and stood there, bail open, until he saw the fish he wanted. He had to pull it away from several till the right one swam up. After four tries he stuck a small blacktip, perfect for the table. This little fish went crazy, cart wheeling out of the water, and then running at high speed toward the bow. It pulled line off against the drag with ease belying its size. With David up front, I tried to do the same thing. I switched to my 10-weight rod and a 12-pound tippet, but I blew it. I couldn't see what grabbed my fly because too many were criss-crossing over and under it at the time. I hooked a decent lemon. It took off for the horizon, not fast, but threateningly steady. It thrashed once on the surface as it dove into the channel (all of 8 feet deep) and then just kept on running. Again we gave chase. About an hour later I got him boatside. During that time David had landed a few smaller blacktips (they followed our chum bag). This time when we returned to the pole it was to retrieve it and head for home. We were both tired after fighting tough fish for the entire day, and we did it in warm weather, flat seas, and in the month of December! This is what you northern shark fanatics need to do to keep those fishing muscles in shape during the winter; besides that, who wants to wait until next June to go sharking anyway? Guess what; sharks are on the flats all year round. Contact me and I'll send you to "shark city". (Click Here to book a charter)