Yak mako

[lowprofile]

This is from last year. Biggest we were able to hook. 98lb on the spring scale and 6’2” if I remember right. Credit goes to Ed for the hookup and getting her to leader. I tailed and bled it.

I sold my little blue kayak and in the market for a bigger one for this season. Goal is a 300lb + model.

[fishnfoool]

A 300 pound kayak is pretty heavy. I think you should stick with a lighter model.

[matthew7!]

How do you target them??


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[igotpron]

Awesome!! Looks like he’s bobber fishing. Now the question is. Where is he fishing?


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[lowprofile]

We were fishing San Diego and set a chum slick. He used a styrofoam float and I had a balloon and rubber band as my float for the top baits.

[lowprofile]

Originally Posted by fishnfoool

A 300 pound kayak is pretty heavy. I think you should stick with a lighter model.

300lb mako. I’m picking up the tarpon 16 that was for sale on the board. Should do well.

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by lowprofile

300lb mako. I’m picking up the tarpon 16 that was for sale on the board. Should do well.

I hate to be that guy but..... I've fished sharks all my life. caught them local to around 400lbs, and leader-ed a lot of Makos, and I would not do it. Larger Mako's over 200lbs are much more aggressive than the smaller ones especially big males. A 300lb Male Mako would likely attack your yak, and it could easily rip a hole in it the size of a basketball before you could even react to it.

Larger Makos like to hunt full grown swordfish, and often kill swords that are twice their size on the surface. I have seen this first hand. What they like to do is attack sword while it's basking on top, and they come up from below grab the caudal peduncle and just rip the swords tail completely off. They then wait till they bleed out and feed on them.

Fred Archer and I once shot the shit about the aggressiveness of the big makos and his take is they fear nothing, because nothing, not even killer whales can kill them. He knew a guy that was killed when a big mako jumped into his boat, and bit into his leg so deep it severed his femoral artery.

I mean I get it, it's exciting to think about landing something that big on a yak, but I would not recommend trying it with larger makos.

[Fiskadoro]

Here's vid I found right away of a decent maybe 250 pound mako attacking a sword and the boat while the guys are trying to land a big sword.

https://youtu.be/1QS5Nww2NrI

From the way it behaved I thought that was a male but looking closer it's a female.

[SoCalEDC]

Originally Posted by lowprofile

300lb mako. I’m picking up the tarpon 16 that was for sale on the board. Should do well.

that tarpon 16 was such a steal at that price. I was considering adding it to my stable as well. Hope to see some big ones landed on it

[summers in kuwait]

Originally Posted by Fiskadoro

I hate to be that guy but..... I've fished sharks all my life. caught them local to around 400lbs, and leader-ed a lot of Makos, and I would not do it. Larger Mako's over 200lbs are much more aggressive than the smaller ones especially big males. A 300lb Male Mako would likely attack your yak, and it could easily rip a hole in it the size of a basketball before you could even react to it.

Larger Makos like to hunt full grown swordfish, and often kill swords that are twice their size on the surface. I have seen this first hand. What they like to do is attack sword while it's basking on top, and they come up from below grab the caudal peduncle and just rip the swords tail completely off. They then wait till they bleed out and feed on them.

Fred Archer and I once shot the shit about the aggressiveness of the big makos and his take is they fear nothing, because nothing, not even killer whales can kill them. He knew a guy that was killed when a big mako jumped into his boat, and bit into his leg so deep it severed his femoral artery.

I mean I get it, it's exciting to think about landing something that big on a yak, but I would not recommend trying it with larger makos.

This is real.

Trying to land a large shark on a kayak in general is challenging, but Makos are a different bread. I would not recommend trying to harvest one that size on a kayak, maybe in general.

On a related note. This is a large Thresher I caught a while back.
But note, Threshers are not Makos!

[lowprofile]

I’m sure I’ll be fine. Thanks for the advice though

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by lowprofile

I’m sure I’ll be fine. Thanks for the advice though

You might consider wearing some leg protection a leather jacket and some heavy gloves. Also you might want to rig a flygaff/ float rig.

The only times I've been hurt by Makos is when I was trying to get the hook out. When they were hanging head up at leader then jumped straight up right in my face. I've never had one hit me square but have caught my hand on a tooth more then once which always leads to a pretty good cut.

Never gaff them in the head. You want to gaff them across the back behind the dorsal. That way they are pulling away from you when they freak out.

Gaffing them in the head then letting them hang facing you is like pointing a loaded shotgun at your face. Fine if it doesn't go off, but if it jumps right into you especially open mouthed like it's trying to throw the hook it can really fuck you up.

Like I said I get it and have thought about this a lot. I would get a fly gaff.....

and rig about a six foot lanyard from it to a polyform float like these.




I then would take another twenty feet of rope and attach it to the float.

The idea here is you would gaff the big mako, let it pull the float out away from you, so you can let out a some rope and let it tow you around holding on to the end while it freaks out. The float will keep the gaff set no matter what it does, kind of like a harpoon float.

After while it will seem like it wears itself out and dies. Don't trust that. You want to keep a long razor sharp knife at the ready, and when it seems spent pull it along side then stab the knife behind the head and cut the spinal cord. It won't be dead, and it still could clamp down on your hand, but it will no longer be able to jump or thrash around.

I came up with that rig after one trip fishing Makos on my 14 foot skiff. I had a big mako at leader but could not budge him high enough for the gaff. Finally I really put a lot of pressure on him and he jumped straight up maybe ten feet into the air so close I could touch him. Fortunately when he came down he hit the railing and went out not in, but it made me realize that if I had a really large mako say over 500lb do the same thing, and actually landed in my skiff that it would completely destroy it.

So I came up with that float rig to keep huge sharks on gaff away from the boat until they slow down enough to deal with them, and I always carry it when sharking.

Here's a pic, of it with my skiff and a small T around 200.


More direct I'm just as crazy as you are. Good hunting

[lowprofile]

I’m already ahead of you. I have 3 100-150lb lift floats that inflate with Co2 cartridges and a harpoon with individual darts. No way a flying gaff will stick on a yak, I’ve tried it. You have to get a gill shot and anything over 8ft is hard to control enough to get in the zone and apply enough force (one handed With rod or leader in other hand).

I’m pretty familiar with fish in the 500-800lb range and how to kill them.

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by lowprofile

I’m already ahead of you. I have 3 100-150lb lift floats that inflate with Co2 cartridges and a harpoon with individual darts. No way a flying gaff will stick on a yak, I’ve tried it. You have to get a gill shot and anything over 8ft is hard to control enough to get in the zone and apply enough force (one handed With rod or leader in other hand).

I’m pretty familiar with fish in the 500-800lb range and how to kill them.

There you go.... Sounds like you have your shit together

Yeah the standard large flygaffs are too big to set one armed while sitting in a yak. I still use smaller flygaffs but I make my own and sharpen them razor sharp.

The lift floats and harpoon are ideal. Sounds like you've worked a sword boat.

Good luck

The first time I intentionally target sharks over 200 on a yak I hooked a big T, but after a few hours I realized that there was no way I was going to plane her up even on the eighty pound gear I was using. On a boat I could just powered up and put an angle on her, or at the very least snapped her off, but on a yak I was totally helpless. She just stayed straight down out of sight steadily pulling me out to sea like it was no big thing. It's been a while but I think she finally just spit the hook. Only time I ever wished a big fish off my line, and it was a long paddle back in.

[DanaPT]

Good luck low profile. Cant wait to see what you come up with. Be safe!

[lowprofile]

Originally Posted by Fiskadoro

There you go.... Sounds like you have your shit together

Yeah the standard large flygaffs are too big to set one armed while sitting in a yak. I still use smaller flygaffs but I make my own and sharpen them razor sharp.

The lift floats and harpoon are ideal. Sounds like you've worked a sword boat.

Good luck

The first time I intentionally target sharks over 200 on a yak I hooked a big T, but after a few hours I realized that there was no way I was going to plane her up even on the eighty pound gear I was using. On a boat I could just powered up and put an angle on her, or at the very least snapped her off, but on a yak I was totally helpless. She just stayed straight down out of sight steadily pulling me out to sea like it was no big thing. It's been a while but I think she finally just spit the hook. Only time I ever wished a big fish off my line, and it was a long paddle back in.

This is the only issue I can’t get over. I think a drift sock will help with adding drag and ability to apply pressure. I’ve been towed by T’s and yellows with only 15lbs of drag and the yak moves like its got a little motor attached to it. I’ll have to work this out before summer.

[boxturtle]

let me know what you come up with lol they should make kayaks with drag flaps also how did you big the shark ashore just drag it all the way in like you have in your first picture? Couple years back i helped a guy that was towing a small t shark...the guy was spent so i threw him a tow line and pulled him in.

[lowprofile]

Originally Posted by boxturtle

let me know what you come up with lol they should make kayaks with drag flaps also how did you big the shark ashore just drag it all the way in like you have in your first picture? Couple years back i helped a guy that was towing a small t shark...the guy was spent so i threw him a tow line and pulled him in.

Ya that’s my buddy with it, he lashed it to his yak and I towed him while he peddled. We were moving at 1.5 mph and took about 3 hours to get in. Even though we bleed the shark it was still alive when we hit the beach.

[Flounder]

I'm lucky to have a Hobie, with the petals I can fight the fish at angles and or petal in reverse slowing down the sleigh ride effect. Really helps for navigating the damn buoy lines that are all over LJ! Makos are no joke I have bite marks from a baby 50lber trying to get my stickbait back. Angry little Effers! 200 lb class gonna need a team just for safety!

[vincentek9]

Holy smokes you are a brave risky fellow. That is a nice sized mako, and actually very impressive in a yak. I once fished for threshers out of newport in my 12ft scrambler XL. Hooked and brought shark up to surface in about 30 seconds only to realize it was a 150-200# mako green with fury. I've never cut my line off so fast in my entire life.