Shark fishing in Galveston Bay

Chilin!

On the way and in a big hurry!

As soon as I got there I set my lines out. Nice bobber huh?

Other yakers in the back ground. Never fish BTB alone.

Bull Reds are so nice compared to sharks.

Two rods baited and waiting for some action. I love this picture.

This little guy let me take his picture. He flew and put on a good show.

During my youth catching sharks was as much a disappointment as catching gaftops or hardheads are today. We considered them bait stealers and junk fish.  They did fight hard but for some reason we just didn’t like dealing with scrappy, bad attitude, toothy, tough fish. So targeting shark from a kayak wasn’t something that appealed to me until some of my closest fishing buddies described their experiences.  Black tip sharks putting on aerobatic shows, bull sharks tail whipping your kayak and fast, long runs of screaming drag does have a certain appeal. Plus catching another species of fish and adding it to my ever expanding kayak fishing repertoire is always a fun way to spend a day!

After making the commitment to target sharks BTB (Beyond The Breakers) I realized that I didn’t have heavy enough leader or hook material to get the job done.  Crazy Yak provided the guidance and within an hour I was rigged with 5 leaders consisting of 400# monofilament line, 12/0 circle hooks and half a dozen balloons (for bobbers) and a guarantee from CY that I was going to have fun.  “If you catch five sharks you’re going to be too tired to do anything else so this will get you through the day.  Good luck!”  They way he expressed “good luck” suddenly alerted me that this could be dangerous and maybe not such a great idea! Do I really want to tangle with a shark that’s bigger than me, with fishing line that can cut my hand off, in a boat that’s made out of plastic and weighs 38#’s in the shark’s habitat? And do this by myself? Uh!

I arrived at sunrise and was able to meet a group of kayak shark fisherman who had spent the night on the beech. Jolly Roger and Rod Dawg gave me a couple of last minute tips and took their seats on the beach. Why aren’t these guys fishing?  I’m the first one out in the surf and immediately take two decent breakers over the front of my Malibu Mini-X which drench me, my plastic sack of fresh dead mullet and ladyfish , and all of my gear.  Whatever, this rig is designed for this and sure enough the water drained through the scupper holes in seconds. As I set up my two bait rods around some small diving birds and nervous jumping mullet I reassure myself that this is fun.

An hour later my balloon makes a real funny motion and in a blink of an eye it goes under; I hear and see it pop.  I grab my other pole and reel it in quickly so my new playmate doesn’t tangle with two lines.  As the shark starts peeling line from my Avet SX reel I have no worries as I’ve got plenty of line.  Removing the rod from the rod holder and setting the hook hard with 3 solid tugs the beast attempts to jump out of the water but only surfaces for a moment. He looked awfully big and kind of like a dolphin taking a breath but there was no mistake I had a bull shark on!

It’s impressive how fast a scared shark can swim.  Pumping the rod and reeling down slack is the game plan.  The problem is as I pump this fish doesn’t give any slack as he continues to pull drag.  I crank my reel to high gear and hold on.  Boom this turns him.  Now he changes direction and is heading right towards me.  Reeling in slack as fast as the reel will go I eventually catch up to him.  He’s about 20 yards away as I put a lot of pressure on him by pulling hard and cranking fast.  He comes to me and catches a glimpse of the kayak and takes off on another run.  This time I’m better prepared and I lean back with all my might as the drag peels another 40 feet and I feel him turn again.  He heads towards me swings around the bow to the starboard side, surfaces BOOM!  He slaps my kayak so hard it turns me.  Good thing all my appendages were inside the gunwale because if that tail had made contact with my arm or leg it would have broken it. BOOM!  He changes direction and attacks me again. It’s at this precise moment I realize I’m not recording this fantastic action. I better get the camera out and take a picture.

A whole new level of complexity arises when you take on a decent sized shark with one hand while trying to take pictures with the other.  It proved to be very difficult but I did manage a couple of still shots.  Not knowing whether I was actually catching him in the frame I decided to change the camera setting to video.  All this while this very mad shark is diving and splashing and doing his best to get away. I manage to shoot some video as the bull shark starts to tire.  I try to pull him up out of the water so he can’t breathe and therefore tiring him even more so I can get a great shot of his impressive teeth.  As I pressure him up my leader breaks and he disappears.  Quite frankly I’m relieved.  To my surprise a fellow fisherman (Wolfman) approaches me and says “Oh No I was going to take your picture”! I told him it was ok as I had all I wanted. If you turn the volume up in the first video you can hear him.

The day continued to be productive with a total of five sharks (2 bulls and 3 black tips), two bull reds and two gaftops.  The largest of the day was the first one and all were released to fight another day.

 
Targeting shark for fun was extremely exciting and a bit dangerous.  A 4’ black tip managed to wrap my line around the tip of my pole and almost flipped me over.  I’m not sure how I managed to stay in my boat but as soon as that happened I pulled my safety knife out and within 2 seconds I cut the line sending him on his way.  Far away!  The black tips really do take flight with thrilling flips, end-over-ends and spins.  Wow! What fun!

At the top of this page are a few pictures and the videos are below.  The quality is poor and raw as I didn’t do any editing but it at least gives you an idea of the adventurous day!  Enjoy!

This video is a bull shark. He broke my line after a long and tiring fight. I must say I was exhausted when he finally gave himself a quick release.  Click on the Original Video links to play the vids. 
Original Video – More videos at TinyPic

This was the second shark of the day and he put on an excellent show for me and two other fisherman. A real nice flyer.

Original Video – More videos at TinyPic

Last but not least.

Original Video – More videos at TinyPic

This is what it looked like after I set my balloon out!  Cool bobber huh?