OUR NEW ENGLAND SHARKS
Long about August after the water warms up into the 70’s you can expect to see the sharks off our fair new England coast. We don’t see a lot of the movie monster great whites or mako sharks in these waters, they are here, just not in the numbers that we see of blue sharks. Basking sharks are a common sight and although they are toothless plankton feeders they are quite impressive to see due to their huge size (over 30 feet ) and if one is lucky enough to see one feeding you will be in awe of the size of a basking sharks mouth which can be big enough for a man to stand in. They swim along with these huge mouths open collecting plankton and filtering water out through their gills.
As I said the blue is the predominate shark in this area, and just because they don’t have the infamous reputation Hollywood has given the great white, the blue shark is a very impressive and deadly creature.
ABOUT new England coast SHARK
lets take a look at some different sharks that are found off our coast and learn a little bit about them.
THE GREAT WHITE
Carcharodon carcharias
the great white is the critter immortalized by the movie “ Jaws”. While not a common sight in the gulf of Maine, these giants do swim here, and some experts are predicting an increase in sightings due to increasing populations of seals and whales, food sources for the great white. To my knowledge the last recorded great white was in 1997 one was rod and reeled and released off the coast of Maine. Prior to that, information indicates a rockport boat harpooned one in 1990.
These sharks are now protected by federal law, and may not be hunted.
Great whites are a medium brownish gray in color with a white underside.their heads are large and conical in shape and the second dorsal fin is very small. Another identifying feature are the triangular serrated teeth. They can grow to a length of 21 feet and weigh 6000 pounds. The average length will run between 16 to 18 feet.
SHORT FIN MAKO
Isurus oxyrhincus
these are the bad boys of the shark world .they are aggressive, fast , and will leap into the air in amazing displays when hooked. Each year there are instances of these sharks jumping into the cockpits of boats, sometimes resulting in fatalities they are considered the most dangerous game fish in the world. I have personally fought two, one on a rod and reel here in the gulf of Maine, and one on a hand line off montauk point, NY. Neither fish was boated, the rod and reel fish bit through the tuna leader, and we released the handline one because after getting a close look at it no one wanted to deal with it.both fish flipped out totally when hooked with flying leaps and violent head shakes in mid air and wild fast runs at the boat. The montauk fish was caught off a large ship, and we actually had it up to the wire leader, but the look on the sharks face seemed to say “ sure fellas, you haul me up onto that deck and lets talk about this “. Nope, snip, see ya later.
The short fin mako is a dark bluish black with a snow white underside. It has a pointed head, long dagger like smoothed edged teeth , and solid black eyes.these sharks are found world wide, and are more common than the white shark in new England waters. An interesting fact is that generally only the larger mako are seen north of cape cod because of the cooler waters.
Females are larger than males, being able to grow to a length of 12-13 feet and weighing around 1600 pounds. Males rarely exceed 9 feet or 550 pounds.
BLUE SHARK
Prionace Glauca
the blue shark, sometimes referred to as “blue dogs”, are our most common shark here off the new England coast. These sharks prefer water above 50 degrees and will spread through the gulf of Maine as summer progresses.
Blue sharks are long and slender and a beautiful deep blue top side and a snow white under. They have pointed heads, long swept back fins, and small serrated teeth. Blue sharks will reach a length of 10-11 feet and weights up to 550 pounds.
While the “blue dog” does not have the bad reputation of the mako, or the size of the great white, it is still a shark and should be treated with equal respect as the latter two. Fact of the matter is blues can become very aggressive when hungry or in the feeding mode. It is not uncommon for multiple sharks to wait under a party boat and munch all the fish people are reeling up from the bottom.i’ve actually teased blue dogs just like a real dog, dangling a piece of fish on my line just above the water sharks have actually swam in circles leaping out of the water trying to get the fish
the blue shark is also a nightmare for tuna fishermen. Some days the blue dogs are so thick and active in the tuna chum it’s impossible to get a bait through them to the tuna. I had one picticular shark one day whose role in life seemed to be to make every one and every thing around him miserable. He would hang near the boat and eat every piece of chum that went over.i stopped chumming and he decided to try a little bird hunting chasing any seagull sitting in the water. That didn’t work very well so he then ate 2 of my balloon floaters. At that point I’d had enough and chummed him up to the side of the boat and gave him a wack on the nose with a gaff handle which sent him on his way. A good point to remember about all sharks, they have many very sensivitive nerves in their snouts. Survival courses teach students to try and strike attacking sharks in the nose as a means of defense if attacked while in the water.
Another funny incident involving a shark happened on a over night tuna trip to northern jefferies ledge. Before turning in for the night we had set out our bait net off the back of the boat to collect herring throughout the night. Around 4:00 am, just before daybreak, I got up and started to haul in the net for the days tuna bait. Fishing had been good, the gill net was stuffed full of herring and I called to the crew to help remove the fish from the net and to try and get as many into the live well as possible. Things were going well, I had about half of the 300 foot net in when all of a sudden something very strong pulled back very hard. Well, a big ‘ole blue dog had been swimming by and seen that seemingly free breakfast dangling off the back of the boat and decided to stop by for a quick bite. A 20 minute tug of war insued before we got the shark, still chomped down on the net, back to the boat, and this time a wack with a harpoon handle sent this meddlesome marauder on his way. What a way to start a day, I was already worn out!
THE MIGHTY, DELIGHTFUL, ENDANGERED DOGFISH
SQUALUS ACANTHIAS
this tiny member of the shark family is without doubt the most abundant and common shark on the east coast of the us. There are so many it is hard to think of them as a shark, because at times they are more like swarms of locus or hoards of vermin. These past two summers we here on the new England have seen unmanageable bodies of spiny dogfish move into the coastal waters and set up residence all the way from mass. Bay to the other end of jefferies ledge up in Maine. When I say swarms it is not even close to an exaggeration , ask any charter or party boat captain who has tried to stripper or bluefish in the months of July through September, or ask the commercial netters and they’ll tell you the dogfish population is out of control. The reason? Well, in my opinion the problem started 4 0r 5 years ago when the national marine fisheries decided the commercial fishermen were catching too many and closed the fishery because they thought the species would be wiped out. An average dog boat would bring in an average of 20,000 pounds pf whole fish which would be processed and shipped overseas. This was a very good outlet for the commercial guys that were suffering from severe cut backs on groundfish limits, and in my opinion everybody was a winner. Now the commercial fleet is back at groundfish, and we have an out of control dogfish population eating everything in sight and making life miserable for everyone.
Spiny dogfish are a small gray skinned, green eyed shark that rarely reach a length of 3 feet. They have very small but sharp serrated teeth that will defiantly give you a severe bite, but the real danger are the 2 long sharp spikes in front of the 2 dorsal fins. The shark will do it’s best to swing or whip around and stick these spikes into the unwitting angler that picks up on of these fish. While there is no venom that I know of, I do believe there is bacteria on the spike that almost always causes blood poisoning to different degrees in different people, and outright allergic reactions in others. Avoid these critters at all costs, and handle with the utmost of care if you have to deal with them!
FISHING FOR SHARKS
as with any fishery there are many ways to fish for shark. If there are shark in the area it doesn’t take a whole lot of skill to hook one, in fact a friend of mine is fond of saying “ some days it’s hard NOT to catch a shark.”
Baits should consist of some type of oily fish, bluefish is my favorite, chunked and fished on a large big game hook, a 10 – 15 0 will do nicely. For chum use any oily ground up fish with some chunks in it. I use a 6-8 foot 300 pound test steel leader with a ball bearing swivel attached to the 50 pound test mono line on my stand up tuna rods. The baits should be floated out into the chumslick at various depths. Keep your eyes on the floaters because sometimes blue sharks are lazy feeders and will slowly pull down a floater without putting any pressure on the line or rod. Large blue dogs can put up a very strong fight at first, and sometimes it’s necessary to get off the anchor to maneuver the boat during the fight.
Blue shark is not a very good eating fish and I recommend releasing it once you get enough photographs at boat side, and don’t kill the poor critter to get his jaws, the teeth are not that impressive, and the shark doesn’t deserve a end like that.
If you are lucky enough to hook up a mako be sure to harpoon it at the at the earliest possible chance and once you’ve tail wrapped it I suggest you drag it behind the boat and cut the gills with a harpoon or knife attached to a long pole to bleed him out before even thinking of bringing him aboard. Also I recommend a lot of research on shark identification before hand so as not to accidently stick a great white as they are protected.
All in all if you want to get the most out of a shark trip I suggest you charter a reputable charter boat and let the pros do all the work while you sit back and enjoy the experience.
DOLPHIN DON S TIDBITS
SCALLOPS AND HADDOCK BROILED IN BUTTER, WINE AND GARLIC
this is an easy one, it’s just like the title says:
grease a casserole dish with butter
fill with chunks of skinned haddock skinned side up, and sea scallops
sprinkle with a good dry white wine, rub with fresh squeezed garlic, then top with fresh ground sea salt and black pepper.
Top off with a thin coating of crushed Ritz crackers, and 2 or 3 pads of butter atop the cracker crumbs.
Bake this dish for 20 min. in a preheated 350 degree oven or under the broiler for around 10 min.
serve with a squash dish and a good rice pilaf
a nice Chardonnay to wash it down, wow, can you feel the love?
DD
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