So many sharks

[JDP]

The sharks are making it very difficult to land kingfish at the moment. Mostly hammerheads and bronze whalers both big and small.

After loosing so many fish to sharks we gave up and turned our sights on the sharks. A first for my boat was a very large hammerhead, this went off like a train and far more exciting than the small ones. Unfortunately everything was a little to hectic to get a photo, being the first shark to take a whole live kingfish weighing around 10-12lb caught me off guard a little. I didn't really have any shark gear onboard and made a very rough light wire trace which held up for at least 10 sharks before we called it a day. 

There were plenty of small hammerheads and whalers as well as a decent bronze around 160kg, which again I didn't get a chance to photograph. The smaller sharks were much easier to handle especially keeping the boat running at around 3-4kts so they just swam alongside as I unhooked them (not so easy with the big heavyweights ).

Also had two big sharks from the shore which were to big to bring onto the sand in the choppy conditions.

A few years ago catching sharks like these were pretty uncommon but now they are just about everywhere, they home in on boats ready to steal fish and also seem to be following the big schools off salmon in the surf.

Next time I will take the GoPro so I can try and get a few images of the bigger sharks if I can find anyone silly enough to come out and catch them!!!.....even the dolphins were feeding on the kingfish.

 

        

[Andy135]

Top sharking! Great pics too. Very envious (as usual) of your fishing and photos Jon 🤓

What brings the sharks in then? Why have they become more numerous in your area? Presume they're following the feed, but the change in numbers suggests a change somewhere along the food chain.

[JDP]

7 hours ago, Andy135 said:

Top sharking! Great pics too. Very envious (as usual) of your fishing and photos Jon 🤓

What brings the sharks in then? Why have they become more numerous in your area? Presume they're following the feed, but the change in numbers suggests a change somewhere along the food chain.

We have always had the kingfish offshore as well as salmon along the beaches, so food supply can't just be the reason. 

There could be a few reasons, perhaps less commercial pressure due to more people being aware of what they eat. Shark was once the most popular food at fish and chip shops which went under the name flake and chips. While flake and chips is still sold, far less people choose it. There's also the heavy metals related to eating shark meat which people are more aware of.

Very few recreational anglers target sharks these days compared to a few years back. A yellowtail kingfish over 8kg is considered far better sport than a shark, as are tuna's and marlin species so hence why people aren't bothered about spending time on sharks. I personally like them because they look stunning and are pretty robust for catch and release.

Another big factor might be the effects we are having from warmer sea temps. Here locally we have seen a big shift in a very short period and with it numerous species move down from the more tropical north which always had plenty of sharks. Even tiger and whale sharks are becoming more regular sights in our area now. The east coast has also become a hot spot for great whites, to the point we really need to be aware while in the water. 

Theres also the fact that the big fall out our country has with China means far less export of seafood, so we are also seeing better numbers of tuna etc.

Our technique of catch and release is quite different from the sharking we used to do in the UK, unless things have changed dramatically I think most sharkers would be very surprised how quickly we catch and release them, this is something a small boat can do far better in my opinion.