I guess I should start with a explanation that sharks must be smarter than we think. Through the winter the sharks hang in the Keys hunkered down surviving the periodic Noreasters ya'll from the north send down I guess when you feel like it. Water temperatures are starting to mellow. The prey species start to follow the water temperatures north. The sharks follow lunch north. Bluefish and Spanish Mackeral head north along the beach. Again, the sharks follow-along the beach.

The primary species we see are blacktips and spinners. Truth is pretty much everything swims out there. Sharkin from the beach is something we don't talk about alot-tourism and all, but it is a hoot. This time of year you can put a rod out with a hunk of bait, catch a bluefish, hook the bluefish through the butt with a shark hook and then swim that live bluefish back out there until a toothy critter decides to snack. The blue fish picks a direction and you take the blue for a walk on the beach. Serious sharkers like buddy Mike Palmer will come the the beach armed with big hunks of something. Hunks of rays, bonita, barracuda or the like. With a kayak they paddle out a 100 or 150 yards dropping the bait attached to a brick. When the shark eats the line releases from the brick and the fight is on. Over the course of time Palmer has caught about every species that swims. A couple of Saturdays ago it was a 11 foot nurse shark. The boys release everything they catch. Most of us shark at less populated areas of the beach. Fighting a shark does tend to draw a crowd and fighting one while little Johnny is playing in the water does tend to piss Mom off. The first spinner I caught on the beach did cause a topless sunbather to walk with me north as I fought the critter. As I expained to my wife, if she only would have had a cold beer with her life would have been pretty close to perfect.

Surfers are their own breed. At this time of the year they know the summer calm is around the next bend so catching the last waves of the season becomes very important. Surfer people sit out there on their boards with their feet dangling in the water. You need to understand this surfing behavior isn't ignorant. The surfers I know absolutely recognize what is going on in the water, just the price you pay to enjoy the sport. For my money I would rather enjoy our yearly toothy critter migration from the beach or the boat.

Last winter there were four people bitten off the beaches of St. Lucie and Martin Counties. We tend to have a feeling of security being just feet off the beach pretending what could hurt you is out there to the east somewhere. Truth is the sharks are basically on the beach and when they are in that close eating is what they are doing. Hopefully this years migration will pass without a repeat of last year. In the meantime it is my intention to hook a few and enjoy the migration while staying out of the water and close to the cooler.

Team OldSkool Shark Video

{youtube}YdYyHjvnJDI{/youtube}

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment