FINS UP
He’s coming in hot. He wants to eat. He sees my fly, and then it’s gone as he turns and heads for Cuba.
Fly line jumps and the reel screams. The rod thrums as backing evaporates. The pulling is a powerful thing, but the reel drag is lightly set, in hopes tension from the fly line pulling behind won’t surpass the strength of #50 leader and knotted connections. The real sensation is more mental than physical. Fueled by adrenaline and flooded with endorphins, my heart pounds, and there is an eruption of pleasure, excitement, and fear. Excitement from the moment, pleasure in the affirmation of the quests attainable goal, and fear that the connection may not last. Will he stay on? Will he be a jumper? And then there is an explosion at what seems like an impossible distance from the boat. Shark in the air. It was a spinner. And then the tension is gone and so much line is left unfurled impotently across the ocean, no longer attached to the shark or the barbless fly. Time to retrieve and rebuild the leader. There are more players lurking.
Sharks are fascinating. They are scary. We fear them. They can hurt us. They have even killed and eaten humans since primordial times. And yet, I love to fly fish for sharks. Not the true giants. I’m not after jaws. Though I have hooked several bigger than myself that were certainly capable of doing me significant harm, I like playing with the ones that can be landed in a reasonable amount of time on a heavy leader. I like to hold the leader briefly and retrieve the fly with a wire looped catch-and-release tool. Predator to predator with no dire consequences. The shark goes away to do shark things and I somehow get this fulfilling rush of pleasure from the encounter.
LOCATION
The past two Decembers, I have traveled down the keys to fish with my buddy captain Eric Lund out of Islamorada, Florida. My Fly Project agenda has been to test products in the harsh saltwater environment against big strong critters. December is not tarpon season. It’s also not too hot for a northern boy, and not too busy on the water. That’s why I like to visit after Thanksgiving and before Christmas. Last year, Eric suggested we spend a day targeting sharks in the lower everglades. He figured that would give me all the stress I needed on the rods, reels and backing I wanted to test. Since then, I’ve put in eight days with sharks on the line.
THE TACKLE HAS SEEN ITS SHARE OF STRESS AND SO HAS MY HEART.
Sharks can be regularly met cruising on the flats searching for prey. I have managed to hook two lemons on streamers and several bonnetheads on Redfish/Bonefish flies while Eric poled me along looking for typical flat's species. But most of the time, it is hard to get a shallow water cruising shark to eat your fly. I’ve had some positive reactions with gamechangers, but they can be hard to sling at moving targets. Especially when you are switching between rods. I intend to spend more time hunting the hunters on the flats in the future.
TO CHUM OR NOT TO CHUM
It is no secret that sharks have an incredible sense of smell. One of the most successful ways to spark aggressive feeding behavior is to have chum in the water. Hanging fish carcasses on a metal stringer off the boat will send a slick of scent down current in a brief time. Sharks crossing the slick are drawn directly to the boat.
You can catch your own chum if you have the time. Jacks, Mackerel, and Barracuda make great shark scent. The process of catching chum can also be fun on lighter tackle. Or you can go buy a couple Bonita from the Islamorada tackle center. Time is precious when you are on a limited travel window and I really wanted to test my tackle against multiple encounters, so we spent several hours most days with chum in the water. The sharks came in, we threw flies and hooked them, and it was so much fun.
IF YOU GO
You can find Eric Lund on Instagram @islamoradacaptain, and you can phone or text him at 305-393-0663. He’s on the water 200+ days each year and his calendar gets tight during tarpon season, so plan early. If you want to fish in early December, he can hook you up with one of the many other great captains in the keys, because I plan to be back on eric’s boat testing gear on big toothy critters.