Heavy Huss on Light tackle !
 

A quick report from the UK on a recent trip catching large huss on very light gear...

Video of the day out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48Rj_KeCLnw

We launch from a small river with the Welsh Snowdonian mountains providing a stunning backdrop. We paddle down the river and out to a reef. Alex caught a monster tope (shark) on fresh bait, we all try catching live bait, but things are slow. I am fishing a heavier rod (Okuma Cortez) for the big stuff, and a light one for bait (Teklon Concept 702L and Okuma Trio 30S reel)...

I finally caught a garfish, using some homemade feathers tied with the fly vice...

http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/c...2/P5220065.jpg

No tope, but I have a crazy idea - why not see if I can catch a snarling bull huss on the ultra light spinning rod ?

To cut a long story short (watch the vid - its quite amusing how the little rod bends !)...

Snarling bull huss taken on the ultra light spinning rod and reel

http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/c...2/P5220072.jpg

http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/c...2/IMGP1968.jpg

All too soon, it was time to leave Wales and return home.

http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/c...2/P5220110.jpg

More pictures of the day including one of Alex's huge tope...

http://dizzybigfish.co.uk/extreme-huss-fishing/

As usual Dizzy,
great report and interesting info, your "huss" looks alot like our Leos, leopard
sharks...of your many camera angles the pics are cool...do you eat those?

Some serious teeth there, nice video!!

Good to see kayak fishing video from different part of the world.

:you_rock: Wow, just watched your vid :notworthy::notworthy:

That was awesome...I am seriously jealous. Great job

Well, I think you can eat them, but its alot of work - you have to skin them and bleed them - they occasionally sell them in the UK, in 'fish and chip' shops under the name of "Rock Salmon" - I suspect no-one would buy them if they sold it as "Bull Huss" :D:D

Same as the "toothfish" they brought them to the US and marketed them as Chilean seabass and look what happened there lol

Hmmmmm Cats and Dogs.


Huss is a Catshark, we do have catsharks but ours are mostly adapted to extremely deep water.

The coloration is a great example of parallel evolution where two different species have developed similar features because they inhabit the same environmental niches in their distant though similar environments.

In other words if we did not have Leopard sharks we'd probably have another shark, maybe something like a smaller spotted sevengill, that would look a lot like a huss eating surf perch in our surf.

His Garfish on the other hand is his version of a Houndfish, or our Needlefish. Same Biological nitche, same family Belonedai, but a smaller genetically distinct fish from the genus belone not tylosurus.


Cools stuff!

more like a swell shark.

thats pretty cool.

Damn you got me!

I forgot about swellsharks which are local catsharks live in the same depth range and have very similar coloration. I always thought swellsharks were dogfish.

Dude you know your local sharks.

Been meaning to ask you: do you make your spider sinkers or do you buy them? Just curious: We used to use them in Texas and I've got a good easy method for making your own mold, for casting them in the six to ten ounce range.

Jim

i buy them. found a supplier with decent prices and shipping. i can pm you the link if you want. and i'd be interested in the mold.

i target big game in the surf and sharks are a common catch. we've caught leopards, swellsharks (very common outside of deep harbors in early winter, especially when the bugs are crawlin) , soupfin, thresher (off piers), horn sharks, smooth hounds, angels, a crocodile shark, and i know a couple guys who don't bat an eye at landing 7gills in the surf.