Captain's Corner

By Larry Blue

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 11, 2000

Considering that the days are as hot as they are, fishing in the cool of the evening can make the event more enjoyable and a good way to beat the heat.

Since sharks are nocturnal feeders, fishing for them at night is ideal. Setting up a mile or two from the beach, on a hard bottom, is just about all it takes to get a strike. From there you are able to take in the setting sun and watch the harbor lights as they begin to shimmer from the not-too-distant shore.

To attract sharks, you need a chum slick. Tying off a bag of ground chum can accomplish this task. Use live pinfish, or any dead fish, for bait and set them out around the boat. Since sharks feed at all levels of the water column, we normally put a bait or two on the bottom and suspend one on a float. The strike of a shark is usually at a screaming run. But the big sharks take the bait off slowly; then it's no stopping the monsters that lurk.

Common sharks for our area include blacktip, blacknose, lemon, spinner, dusky, bull and hammerhead. In the backwaters you may find these and shovelnose or bonnethead sharks too. While fishing a ledge for grouper, you may even catch a nurse shark.

With the exception of hammerheads and nurse sharks, shark is good table-fare food fish -- that is, if properly cared for and prepared right. Ice them well as soon as they are caught, since shark meat spoils easily if allowed to get too warm.

- Larry Blue charters the Niki Joe out of Madeira Beach. Call (727) 397-3773, or e-mail at Captlblue@aol.com.

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