Shark fishing in Ft. Lauderdale

Story By: Capt David Zsak
Date Added: 2011-09-02

First I want to say that we do not harvest sharks anymore. That is a practice of the past. There used to be a craze to catch them and keep the fish, however now most of us fishermen are releasing the sharks as they are a large part of our fishery.

Fishing for Shark is not for everyone, some anglers have caught many Sharks and do not care to catch Shark. However the majority of our charters love to catch Sharks. The sharks are a migratory species of fish that do travel and move similar to Mahi and Sailfish. Sharks like most pelagic species of fish have months that are more productive than others. For example, during the months of February, March through July we have a great Shark bite.

Fishing offshore for Sharks is a fun and exciting species of fish to target. Typically they are large, they fight hard and even if we have a monster fish that is hooked up and if the angler wants to share, we have had two and even three guys fight one shark.

The average size shark is around 100 to 150 pounds. The large Shark can range from 300 up to 400 pounds, and the absolute monsters are upwards of 600+ pounds. Keep in mind that only a luck 6 to 8 charters a year off Fort Lauderdale catch the 600+ pound sharks.

Either way, the 100 to 200 pound sharks put on a heck of a fight. The different species of sharks that we catch are (Hammerhead, Black Tip Shark, Reef Sharks, Brown Shark, Dusky Shark, Mako’s, Lemon Shark and Bull Sharks) occasionally we will catch a Tiger Shark.

There is a preferred dept of catching Sharks off Fort Lauderdale. When the migration of shark is coming through good, most of the boats will be fishing in 300 feet of water. However the 150 foot depth and even 200 foot depth are also great depths to fish.

The best way to figure where you will be targeting sharks for that day depends on the current of water. Is the push of water going North or South. Is there a strong wind and where have the past couple sharks been caught the day or two before your charter.

The best tackle to use is Penn or Shimmano 8/0 or 10/0 reels. The large reel and rod are necessary because of the strength of the sharks. The line used is 80 pound on the reel and the leader is wire. The gauge of wire if anywhere from 12/0 wire to 15/0 wire and we use 10 feet of wire leader.

Also when choosing your hook selection, it is best to match the size of the bait to the hook. We are using either Bonito or Mackerel. There are two hooks used, one in the mouth and one in the back of the bait.

When the captain that is Fort Lauderdale fishing finds an area that looks good or what we call “fishy” the captain will face the boat into the current. That way when the baits are deployed from the boat, the current will push the scent of the dead bloody fish down the current rip. This is what attracts the shark.

They smell the blood and oil coming out of the bait and will bring the shark into the spread of your baits, we like to use three baits. One bait on the bottom in 300 feet of water. The second bait is called a mid bait, this bait is measured out so the bait is in 150 feet of water (hence mid bait) and lastly we use a surface bait, this will cover all areas through out the water column.

Again what attracts the sharks is the bloody baits, and by covering all your bases (deep, mid and surface) you have a much greater chance of hooking up with a shark. Like Sailfish, we do not keep the shark unless the charter would like to keep the fish to eat. Shark are a great fight and really are an important part of Fort Lauderdale’s fishery.