Mako's

[lowprofile]

just a figurative question...

who would be willing to chase Mako's off the yak?

open water, high cap. reel with 40lb mono, pulleys at bow and stern for tail and gill ropes?

would actually like to get a small group together to do something like this. but i know not many would be up for it.

[Devildawgjj]

I'm in.... But I'm certainly not making the arduous attempt of paddling out to >500 ft.

[GregAndrew]

They show up around LJ sometimes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KArcn-uerjo

[Rav3n805]

hmm...My best mako was only 150lbs off a boat, never tried for them on the yak , could be interesting only thing is a chum slick off the yak could get hairy... They are one bad ass shark can only imagine the sled ride you would get out of a solid fish! How do you plan to target them?

[james92026]

Not to be an alarmist, but you guys are nuts! I recently read the stats on number of unprovoked shark attacks reported off CA Coast. 2010 7, 2009 9, with 79 worldwide;. One near Malibu, lifted girl and kayak several feet in the air, with her coming down feet first on to the GW's shoulder and they both went different directions. then there was the Mission Beach closure last year, the surfer bit in half a couple years ago. Nothing new here, and undoubtedly many of you know more than I about it, but it did give me pause for thought.

Originally Posted by Rav3n805

hmm...My best mako was only 150lbs off a boat, never tried for them on the yak , could be interesting only thing is a chum slick off the yak could get hairy... They are one bad ass shark can only imagine the sled ride you would get out of a solid fish! How do you plan to target them?

[oneyedeer]

lol you guys planning to file tax early this year?

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by lowprofile

just a figurative question who would be willing to chase Mako's off the yak?

Damn!!! You guys are Crazy


I've considered it. If I did it I'd troll for them not chum.

I'll be straight up. I gather none of you guys actually have much experience fishing for Makos of any size. I've fished them for a few decades and probably have caught and seen hundreds if not thousands of them as they used to be about all I fished for. Personally I wouldn't advise fishing for them unless you really know what your doing.

I'm also lucky enough to know some of the best shark fisherman In California, a few IGFA record holders, as well as many of the local shark guru's (you know the guys who right the books on them as well as study their behavior). Over the years we've compared a few notes so to speak and this topic has come up. For a while I was considering personally fishing them from a kayak just to set some kind of crazy kayak record. You know like 200 to 300 pound Mako from a kayak, the only one of that size that's ever been taken kind of thing. Well the unanimous verdict has always been "Don't be crazy!! Don't do it!!!"

I'm pretty experienced with them, and I think I could do it and even do it relatively safely, but I'll be honest... it's probably just super dangerous if your dealing with anything other then small pups.

The bottom line is good sized mako's can kill you.

I mean I don't know anyone who's been seriously injured while fishing T sharks but if I remember correctly it was a friend of Archers that got killed when a relatively small Mako under 250 pounds jumped straight into his boat bit his leg and cut the femoral artery. The guy just bleed out on the spot.

Makos are notorious for three things. Erratic behavior, aggressive behavior, and jumping right at the boat. I can't even tell you how many makos' I've seen jump at the rail. They do it all the time. I've seen them glance off T tops, land on top of rails, smack into outboards and just plain bounce off the sides of boats.

Lots of times when you hook them they will swim right up for you completely unafraid, and then freak out right in your face.

A couple years back I was fishing off Oceanside working paddies for yellows when a 300 pounder came up. Just for fun I tried to see if I could get it to eat an Iron. It chased it several times then got it at the end of the third cast about ten feet off the side of the boat coming straight at us. When I set the hook it went ballistic jumped completely out of the water maybe ten feet in the air, glanced off the T top and then landed back in the water well in front of the bow, snapping off the jig in the process. I was just glad it didn't land in the boat. Pulling that Iron in as fast as I could teasing the thing... Well... like what was I thinking.. It could of just as easily jumped right in the boat after it.

My buddy M was fishing off SMB shark chumming for makos when he hooked a good one. It initially stayed down and wasn't fighting hard. Didn't take an drag didn't go anywhere . He just winched right over till it was right under the boat but then he couldn't get it to come up. It stayed deep and they couldn't see it. It was right there straight down and after about fifteen minutes he really put the wood to it cinching up the drag and giving it all he could. All of a sudden the line went slack and a ten to twelve feet of Mako maybe a 1000+ pounds came right straight up right next to his boat and flew up so high into the air that saltwater off it's back fell like rain all over his cockpit. It temporarily blinded him with salt as he was looking up at it up in the air. He said when it laded right next to the boat it felt like a bomb went off. He initially thought it hit the boat, but couldn't find any marks later. The pressure wave actually pushed the boat sideways several feet, and spun it around. M's a veteran sharker, I fished for them with him for years and he's one of the best I know. He said that shark didn't even take any line, just sunk right back down and sat under the boat again. He said after about fifteen more minutes of it sitting there he got freaked out and cut it off. Personally I would of throttled up the boat, got some distance and made it fight but he said he was too unnerved after that jump to keep fishing, and actually stowed his gear and went home.

Makos often attack boats, especially when chumming. They are known for it. Look online and you'll find stories from all over the globe where they have hit boats or grabbed ouboards even when people were under power. Big male Mako's can be super aggressive. I think it was Sam Bass that used to tell the story about a big male he hooked in the Cat channel that attacked his boat numerous times and actually damaged his outboard. Personally I've had them chew up downrigger balls and hit outboards while trolling, and seen them kill swords as big as they are..

All that said if I was going to fish for them this is how I'd do it.

First off you do not want to chum. If you chum you never know what's coming up the chum line. A 500+ pound Mako or White comes up that chumline they are going to F-up your kayak trying to figure out where that chum is coming from. Makos routinely chew on your boat outboards or anything that's in the water when you're chumming. Mako teeth are needle sharp. If they chew on your yak it's going to leak.

Gear wise you want to fish thirty or forty on a reel that holds a minimum of 400 yards. I prefer 450 yards as decent Mako can strip 400 yards of forty in less then a minute or two. Sometimes they don't go anywhere other times they take off like a freight train.

Trolling you can either slow troll live macks, skirted dead macks (orange yellow pink or red skirts) wieghted down on the termocline, or you can troll purple CDMAG18 or CDMAG22 Rapalas. Any color rapala will work but Purple get's bit the most. Purple get's bit by Makos so much so I hardly ever troll them for anything other then Mako's. Even offshore on the tuna grounds if you put one in the water your just asking for it.

Bait let them run, skirted bait let them run a long ways. When you get picked up leave the rod in the holder and start paddling as fast as you can away from the shark count to 10 or twenty then throw it in gear and keep paddling. With Rapalla's same thing except you start with a healthy drag set, but once you are bit you want to paddle away from the shark.

There are several reasons why. First Mako jaws are tough so you really want to drive the hook in deep to keep them from throwing it while jumping.

Additionally Makos tend to act the most crazy in the first few minutes of the fight. When trolling from a boat we get around this by throttling up and pulling away from the shark. I like to keep going until they have run at least a hundred yards of line of the reel. This keeps the line super tight the first minutes of the fight and also get's them well away from the boat so they are less likely to cause you issues.

You do not want these sharks close to you while they are green. You want to fight them out in away from you then take them when they are tired boatside. With Kayaking I'd do the same thing. Paddle like hell until they have a good hundred yards of the reel then let them tire themselves out at a distance.

Ultimately I'd say that the most dangerous aspect of fishing Makos from a yak is not that they might damage the yak but that they could actually injure you by jumping right into your body and as a result cut you up.

Look at the teeth on this Mako shark.


That's a relatively small one but see how those needle sharp teeth on the lower jaw face forward, even if a shark like that doesn't bite you, if he jumps into you and his mouth is even barely open you are going to get seriously cut up.

I've experienced this first hand. I've never actually been bitten by a Mako, but I have received numerous cuts where makos have lunged or jumped at leader and one or more of their teeth caught some exposed skin. To get around this when fishing for Makos we wear welding cloves for leadering.

If I was kayaking for makos I'd probably not only wear leather gloves, but I'd also wear some kind of old heavy leather biker style jacket under my vest as well. That way if I got a body shot, I might loose a rib or two but I wouldn't end up bleeding to death from lacerations, or I wouldn't be as freaked out about putting up an arm to protect my face.

Speaking of facials... If you gaff them in the head with a fixed gaff like you would do with a tuna or yellow they will jump right in your face. Don't do it.

You always want gaff makos behind the dorsal in the tail, and you don't want to use a fixed gaff, but instead a flygaff because if you use a fixed gaff a decent mako will either pull you over or rip the gaff out of your hand.

What I would do is rig a flygaff with a six foot rope connected to a float or small buoy, that is then is connected to a twenty foot rope tied off to the yak. Pull the shark up, gaff it in the tail then let it swim off pulling the float well away from you. Then if it jumps it's not on top of you you, so you can just sit back and wait for it to kill itself trying to pull the float under and your kayak around.

When you think it's dead pull the flygaff rope up so it's are hanging alongside tail right next to you. Take a J gaff gaff them in the head and pull it's head up enough that it's lying parallel to the kayak head pointing away from you. Then take a sharp fillet knife stab it in the back behind the gills deep as the blade will go. The deal is you want to stab it in angled to one side then cut across to the other side severing the spinal cord. Then even if it's not dead it can't move or jump. After that just keep your fingers out of it's moth for an hour or so. They are not T sharks. You be amazed how long they live after you think they look dead.


That's my take..take it or leave it.

Jim

[jorluivil]

Originally Posted by Jim Day

That's my take..take it or leave it.

Jim

As always....a very insightful, informative, instructive and educational answer from Mr Jim Day

[Kahouna]

I was sooo ready to type in a "YES", then I read what the good Mr. Day posted. Now.... IF it was possible to just target leeetle guys. Well, just keep me in mind when you decide to form a yak armada out of O'side. I'll at least have the event on a gropro.

[WahooUSMA]

Originally Posted by lowprofile

just a figurative question...

who would be willing to chase Mako's off the yak?

open water, high cap. reel with 40lb mono, pulleys at bow and stern for tail and gill ropes?

would actually like to get a small group together to do something like this. but i know not many would be up for it.

Why not try feeding the Mako's too, ....bet they will eat right out of your leg or legs!

Yeah, you go right ahead.....let me know how it goes. Make sure to post your results upon your return, if you still have fingers to type with.

Seriously, a T is tough enough, we definitely do not want to hear about you guys on the news.