[SilverFly]

While Mako shark are the only one of these species that have realistic value as a fly fishing target, I still find it fascinating what can be found off our coast. From another saltwater forum:

There's been a lot of excitement the last month or so with my son giving me abundant reports of exotic fish that are regulars of the So. Cal commercial fleet. Just to give you an idea of the volume that exists off of our coast here are a few of the stats: in 2, 10 day trips in October, he landed over 100 Swordfish (from 100-600lbs), an equal amount of Mako and Thresher Sharks, and a smattering of Imperial Louvar and Opah.

The fishing is focused in the hottest strips of water from La Push to Garibaldi and from 125.00 -126.25 West. The outer garbage dump was very hot one trip.

After reading this I am now 100% sure that we saw a small Mako shark when tuna fishing this year, and I will be prepared if the opportunity presents itself again next year. Swordfish, while arguably the greatest gamefish that swims, seem a very unlikely fly rod target in the PNW due to the depths they frequent. Not sure if Thresher can be taken on fly gear but are well regarded as a sport fish. Imperial Louvar also being a deep water fish, seem an even more unlikely fly target than Opah but definitely add to the mystique of what can be caught offshore in the PNW.

Louvar can reach 300lbs:

Anyway, thought some of you salt junkies might find this interesting.

 

[veilside180sx]

I'll have to ask Randy about the Mako. Don't think I heard that story about your trip.

Mako and Thresher are seen with some frequency but difficult to single out as there isn't a huge amount of numbers in comparison to the million Blue sharks around.

 

[Nick Clayton]

I've been following that thread closely. I met Max, the kid in that picture, while I was working out of Westport. The boat he was on, The Miss Abby, worked together with my boat while we were fishing. If I recall Max is all of 18, and is one hell of a hard working kid. Been fishing his whole life. Really enjoyed the time I spent around him. Was super excited to see he is having such great success.

Such an amazing world out there. A true offshore boat is my number one goal right now. I WILL get out there and get to dialing some of that stuff in.

 

[SilverFly]

I'll have to ask Randy about the Mako. Don't think I heard that story about your trip.

Mako and Thresher are seen with some frequency but difficult to single out as there isn't a huge amount of numbers in comparison to the million Blue sharks around.

Not sure if Randy saw it, or noticed the "different" looking shark with the super pointy nose, and short, triangular fins. It was about the same size as the omnipresent 4-5' blue sharks, so it would have been easy to miss. Especially with all the activity at the stern. I was up on the bow and had a much better, somewhat elevated view.

Edit: If I hadn't been in full-on tuna mode, and believed what I was seeing, it would've been a piece of cake to selectively present a fly to the Mako, and not the 2 or 3 blues there at the time. That is if I had a rod rigged with a wire leader.

 

[SilverFly]

Such an amazing world out there. A true offshore boat is my number one goal right now. I WILL get out there and get to dialing some of that stuff in.

I'm starting to seriously consider a blue water boat myself. Not that I plan on giving up charter fishing, or bumming offshore rides any time soon, but there's a lot of "experimenting" I'd like to do.

 

[clarkman]

there's a lot of "experimenting" I'd like to do.

I'm pretty sure you'll need a research team for such an endeavor.

 

[SilverFly]

I'm pretty sure you'll need a research team for such an endeavor.

Hmm, do you happen to know anyone that works in research?

Research problem #1, Determine what kind of sinking line needed to get a really big squid fly 200+ feet down.

If you want to plan on chasing Elvis now or next season here are a few things that may help you find the needle in the haystack: Fish the warmest water in the region - and yes 0.01 of a degree matters. Also fish the thermocline not the structure or canyon bottom. the Themocline has been in the 190-280' depth. that means if you go Florida style and deep drop your missing the fish. You can set your gain on your meter to see the thermocline. Another note on the thermocline - how strong it is matters. These fish have been frequenting thermoclines that have at least an 8 degree break.

Fish squid for bait above, in, and slightly below the thermocline and you will have a much better chance at catching one of these gladiators of the sea.

 

[SilverFly]

I've been following that thread closely. I met Max, the kid in that picture, while I was working out of Westport. The boat he was on, The Miss Abby, worked together with my boat while we were fishing. If I recall Max is all of 18, and is one hell of a hard working kid. Been fishing his whole life. Really enjoyed the time I spent around him. Was super excited to see he is having such great success.

Commercial fishing porn or not, pictures really are worth a thousand words. Amazing to think these fish were caught in Washington state waters:

 

[meh.meh.meh.meh.meh.]

Hard to fathom the possibilites

 

[veilside180sx]

Not sure if Randy saw it, or noticed the "different" looking shark with the super pointy nose, and short, triangular fins. It was about the same size as the omnipresent 4-5' blue sharks, so it would have been easy to miss. Especially with all the activity at the stern. I was up on the bow and had a much better, somewhat elevated view.

Edit: If I hadn't been in full-on tuna mode, and believed what I was seeing, it would've been a piece of cake to selectively present a fly to the Mako, and not the 2 or 3 blues there at the time. That is if I had a rod rigged with a wire leader.

Usually when someone brings up something different than the norm it gets discussed later. (I deck handed quite a few of his trips this year, & believe I was going to do yours till some plans changed)

Unless you didn't say anything when you saw it.

Had a buddy 2 years ago fight a 12' Thresher on standard Albie gear...got it to the boat twice somehow without sawing it off...it never came back for a third lol

All the potential "exotics" are part of what keeps us going out there as much as possible.

Every trip is different and exciting.

 

[River Pig]

The Louvar has a five head.

 

[SilverFly]

Usually when someone brings up something different than the norm it gets discussed later. (I deck handed quite a few of his trips this year, & believe I was going to do yours till some plans changed)

Unless you didn't say anything when you saw it.

Had a buddy 2 years ago fight a 12' Thresher on standard Albie gear...got it to the boat twice somehow without sawing it off...it never came back for a third lol

All the potential "exotics" are part of what keeps us going out there as much as possible.

Every trip is different and exciting.

Randy said there had been some changes but I had no idea another WFF member was on his deckhand list. Great news though. Hopefully we'll get to fish together next year.

Amazingly, I'm not sure if I actually mentioned seeing the mako later. I should probably have said "I" instead of "we". Think I made a comment to Ted who was up front with me but sharks are generally on my radar as a nuisance anyway.

There was a lot going on all day. Besides nearly plugging the boat with some hefty albacore (and breaking 3 fly rods in the process), we saw whales, hundreds of dolphin, sunfish, AND a possible marlin sighting (Randy was the one who used the "M" word, even though myself and others were thinking it). On top of all that, I kept questioning myself whether the pointy-nosed shark really was a mako. Even if I was positive about the ID, any thought of mako evaporated after getting spooled by the mystery fish. Not knowing what it was still haunts me now and likely will for a very long time. What a day. We hit the dock sometime after 8PM and didn't finish carking until after midnight. I have never been so wiped out after a trip - or stoked.

I can't wait for next year which gives me plenty of time to upgrade my reels. I've been looking at several brands and am leaning towards the Galvan Torque Tournament. It's a reel that was designed from the get-go for big, bluewater fish. With 500yds of 50# backing capacity, I wouldn't have had to break that fish off. I have a feeling it was a 50-ish lb bluefin since there were a few that size caught in the area at the time. No more mystery fish bullshit next year!

 

[Chucker]

There are always lots of makos off Washington during tuna season. They are not as affected by water temperature than some of the other exotics. It seems to me that it's much more likely that you got spooled by one of those than by a bluefin.

I did some shark fishing out there a few years ago (what else is there to do at night on a drifting boat?). About one in six fish hooked were makos, with the rest all being blues. Even a 50 pound mako could rip out a couple of hundred yards of line in a flash, and they didn't all jump. There was a story from a trip that I missed, About a fish that spooled a guy who had 1800 yards of 80 pound braid on a heavy duty offshore reel. There are some Monsters out there, and you're not stopping them with a fly rod!

 

[veilside180sx]

I have been spooled no less than 10 times in the last 5 years. Most of which I couldn't even turn their heads with 30 lbs of drag & 6-700 yds of 50-80 lb.braid.

Next year I'll run some heavier troll gear with more 80 or 130 lb braid.

I can't imagine remotely standing a chance with fly gear, but hey...I'm willing to try anything lol

 

[SilverFly]

There are always lots of makos off Washington during tuna season. They are not as affected by water temperature than some of the other exotics. It seems to me that it's much more likely that you got spooled by one of those than by a bluefin.

I did some shark fishing out there a few years ago (what else is there to do at night on a drifting boat?). About one in six fish hooked were makos, with the rest all being blues. Even a 50 pound mako could rip out a couple of hundred yards of line in a flash, and they didn't all jump. There was a story from a trip that I missed, About a fish that spooled a guy who had 1800 yards of 80 pound braid on a heavy duty offshore reel. There are some Monsters out there, and you're not stopping them with a fly rod!

Good point. I assumed it was a tuna since it didn't jump or cut me off, but I could have gotten "lucky" with the hook placement. A mako is possible though. We were on an extended drift and I was fishing the fly deep in our chum line. I suppose it could have been a really big albacore, but we were boating fish in the high 20's, if not over 30 pounds, and none of those fish took even half the line this one did.

As much as I want to catch big fish, there is a limit to what I'm willing to do with a fly rod. A fifty pound bluefin on the fly would a be a bucket list fish. A hundred plus pound bluefin (or bigeye) sounds like either an exercise in futility, or extreme punishment. The same with mako. A five footer would be an amazing experience within the realm of possibility on albacore fly gear. I'd have to think twice about casting to a mako over 8'. Anything over 10' would max my pucker factor meter.

I have been spooled no less than 10 times in the last 5 years. Most of which I couldn't even turn their heads with 30 lbs of drag & 6-700 yds of 50-80 lb.braid.

Next year I'll run some heavier troll gear with more 80 or 130 lb braid.

I can't imagine remotely standing a chance with fly gear, but hey...I'm willing to try anything lol

Like I said, there's a limit to what I want to hook with fly gear! Care to speculate on what kind of beasties you were connected to?

 

[veilside180sx]

I got spooled the same day you did as well on a diff vessel. (50 lb braid x 400 yds) Definitely felt like a big tuna to me. I've landed albacore up to 40 lbs & they don't pull nearly as hard as the fish that have spooled me.

It's pretty rare up here in my experience to hook sharks on the troll. Most sharks are inherently lazy/opportunistic. They want an easy meal not to chase it @ 5-7 kts. I'd say over half of the times I've been spooled have been on the troll.

 

[Nick Clayton]

The captain I worked for this summer had the same thoughts regarding sharks. Said he's never caught them trolling jigs in the 35 years or so he's been doing it.

Then this year we caught a good handful of blues on the troll. Go figure.

The changes off shore seem to have everything kinda topsy turvy. Ran into quite a few other things that seemed to defy conventional logic as well.

Man I can't wait to get back out there

I got spooled the same day you did as well on a diff vessel. (50 lb braid x 400 yds) Definitely felt like a big tuna to me. I've landed albacore up to 40 lbs & they don't pull nearly as hard as the fish that have spooled me.

It's pretty rare up here in my experience to hook sharks on the troll. Most sharks are inherently lazy/opportunistic. They want an easy meal not to chase it @ 5-7 kts. I'd say over half of the times I've been spooled have been on the troll.

 

[Irafly]

Last weekend I found a dead Mola Mola on the beach.

 

[SilverFly]

I got spooled the same day you did as well on a diff vessel. (50 lb braid x 400 yds) Definitely felt like a big tuna to me. I've landed albacore up to 40 lbs & they don't pull nearly as hard as the fish that have spooled me.

It's pretty rare up here in my experience to hook sharks on the troll. Most sharks are inherently lazy/opportunistic. They want an easy meal not to chase it @ 5-7 kts. I'd say over half of the times I've been spooled have been on the troll.

Hard to say. Until reading Nick's post above I never would have thought a blue shark would eat a troll lure. I highly doubt any of these spoolers were blues though. Not that they aren't strong fish, they just don't have the same kind of speed.

Based on that, we can probably limit the suspect list to mako or one of 3 tuna species. If you've caught 40lb albacore and these were stronger, they would have to be a very rare grade of albie. I know what albacore (and presumably other tunas) feel like on the line but not sure if there's a discernible difference with mako. Whatever it was that I hooked felt like an albacore grab, then took off in a straight line towards Astoria. The only difference from the others was about halfway into the backing I was thinking "Holy shit, I'm going to get spooled!". It finally did slow some but I didn't have much left on the reel and it was either stop it or break it off.

The captain I worked for this summer had the same thoughts regarding sharks. Said he's never caught them trolling jigs in the 35 years or so he's been doing it.

Then this year we caught a good handful of blues on the troll. Go figure.

The changes off shore seem to have everything kinda topsy turvy. Ran into quite a few other things that seemed to defy conventional logic as well.

Man I can't wait to get back out there

On the one overnight trip I did, I woke up and went out on deck about 1 or 2 AM. It was amazing how much life was attracted to the lights around the boat. I could have refilled the bait tank with a smelt net. The combination of the lights, that much bait, and drifting for hours, seems like asking for serious trouble if one were to put a line under the boat. One of the guys on that trip did exactly that just before dawn (when I was finally sound asleep) and he claims to have been nearly spooled by something. Shark was the first guess from others, but he didn't get cutoff and said it felt like a tuna. His guess was possibly a bigeye tuna. They are out there, and dawn or just before is the time to fish for them. But obviously the non-shark suspect list is long including bluefin, opah, swordfish, louvar, and who knows WTF else.

Last weekend I found a dead Mola Mola on the beach.

Not too surprising, there was a lot of them out there this year. They are really cool fish and seem almost as curious about us as we are about them. I'm going to try getting some underwater video next year.

 

[veilside180sx]

Blue sharks are actually very fast but for some reason they don't use it to fight...instead they roll up in the line or lazily swim away. Even the 8'+ Blues are like that.