On Sunday, May 25, 2014 10:59:06 PM UTC-4, Trent Jones wrote:
Ever since I heard about catching Mako Sharks on the fly while standing in the Kern River Fly shop 5 years ago I have wanted to do it...
The fire was stoked further a few years ago when Dalton, Snowhite, and I discussed shark fishing with Conway Bowman over a few beers at the Somerset, NJ fly fishing show...
So, when I received a wedding invitation from a good friend informing me that I was to be present at his nuptials in Southern California in May, my first thought was to who was going to meet me in San Diego to pitch flies at sharks? I thought for a brief moment and then called my brother Brian. His response was basically to ask what dates he needed to be in San Diego...
After some diligence I decided Captain Dave Trimble was the person I needed to talk to, I made the call, booked a date, and waited for trip time to arrive…
My brother had some travel issues and didn't get in until Wednesday morning. After picking him up from the airport and dropping his stuff in the room we immediately went to the hotel restaurant to order some Bloody Mary's and discuss the day ahead of us over breakfast. We decided to check out Torrey Pines and the aquarium figuring by then, we could start in on some fish tacos and some west coast IPA's. We did the above and then stopped in on Socal Fly Fishing Outfitters. Needless to say these guys got us fired up about the local fishing. We quickly realized we needed to wet a line as soon as possible and needed to get out on San Diego Bay somehow. Due to late notice and the fires that were ravaging the city, the San Diego Bay guide trip was going to be tough to book.
We left the Socal Fly Shop, headed back to our room via the beer store, and strung up our rods. When we were about to walk out the patio my brother looked at me and asked how many beers I was bringing. I'm not sure what look I gave him but he immediately went into an explanation on how he was not willing to get a ticket for being an unlicensed fisherman, but at the moment he was willing to risk an open intox ticket, and that we were on vacation, and I was starting to show signs of…at this point he paused long enough for me to yell, Three!
We walked out of the back patio and 50 yards to the beach to fish Mission Bay. We had a few bumps and one fish bite me off, but my brother landed an absolute slab Corvina. I helped him land the fish, snapped a few pictures and then we sat and enjoyed some of our beer.
The Next morning was Mako time. We met Captain Trimble at Dana Landing and it was immediate that we were going to get along. When my brothers and I get together our behavior is often described as…aggressive. Adding to the excitement was the fact that we were targeting some fast, thoothy, angry fish. We motored out to the Pacific ocean and started to chum. And for the next 7+ hours, chum we did. Laughing, talking about fishing, telling stories, and chumming. In all honesty we were 7 hours into an 8 hour charter and I was telling myself it wasn't a bad trip, we saw sea lions, porpoises, a gray whale, tons of birds and the great Pacific ocean. I also got to spend a bunch of time on a boat with my brother laughing and carrying on with a great guide.
Then, El Capitan stiffens up like a dog on point and says, fish! My brother and I look to the chum slick and are wondering if our captain is seeing a mirage, 4 seconds later we spot the Mako he is talking about. Dave puts a 12wt in my hands and lobs a teaser bait into the water and starts telling me when to pick the fly up and to cast at the sharks tail. This may sound simple but the presence of these critters has a tendency to jack your heart rate and make you slightly week in the knees. A Mako Sharks large, black, emotionless eyes don't convey a whole lot, buts its body language very clearly tells you that he is there to eat something or kill and eat something. I follow the Captains instructions, the Mako makes several passes at my offering nipping and teething at it. I strip set twice without connecting to anything. On about the third pass the fish of maybe 35lbs eats directly in front of me. I strip set hard and connect, the fish is broadside so I sweep the rod tip towards its tail to try and get the fly out of its teeth and into the corner of its mouth, I hit him twice more hard and he opens his mouth and tries to shake the fly out. He is pissed! Over the next 1.5 seconds several things occur:1. The Shark bolts
2. I try to maintain pressure and get one more strip strike in
3. Captain Dave says to clear the line, don't even palm the reel
4. I realize my finger is burning and allow the reel to do its job
The fish peels off a ton of line and all I can say is holy…cow! After his run I start to crank him back in with smaller runs along the way. We get the fish near the boat and all of a sudden the shark's giant black eyes are very telling. They are telling me that he is pissed and that if he has a chance he is going to bite my face.
I was adamant with my brother that I was willing to handle any shark under 50lbs…yea right! The fish at the boats side was maybe 35lbs and I wanted nothing to do with grabbing it. At this point Captain Dave tells me to hand the rod to my brother and to put this glove on. I am thinking crap, I do not want to get anywhere near this halfcocked torpedo with teeth. I am then instructed to get a half wrap on the wire leader, as the fish tugs and shakes its head I am handed the de-hooking tool and told to get the hook and commit to a strong punch, I do, and my first Mako shark on the fly swims off into the Pacific.
I have admired and been fascinated with sharks since I can remember and to be connected to one with tool of my trade was incredible and beyond words.
As my heart rate slowly returned we discussed the battle in detail. We talked about the power, the danger, and the unpredictability of a hooked Mako. 7 hours and 45 minutes into the day I glanced at my brother and he looked at me and said that was awesome, let's get another one! We all new time was running out. We stared at the chum slick for a few minutes….and then Captain Dave says, Shark! Again, My brother and I look for 3,4,5 seconds before we spot him coming in…To watch my brother tango with this fish was just as exciting as doing it myself. In a way even better, the fish he tied into cleared the water twice and I was able to watch the whole thing without the worry of how to play him or what I need to do next. I can't even explain what happened during the fight or how fast and agile this fish was, let's just say…he was very fast and very agile. My brother landed the shark and we released him.
I could go on for another 1000 words on the experience, but I will simply say, it was freaking awesome!
As we motored back to the marina all members of the party were satisfied, we had a few more laughs and called it a day.
As soon as we got back to the car we decided beer and food were in order, and I got on the horn to see if any headway had been made on a guide for San Diego Bay for the next morning. During dinner I managed to get Captain Mike Sergeant on the Phone and told him we wanted to fly fish the Bay in the Morning. We had a brief discussion and cleared up the when and where and hung up.
We spent a full day fishing San Diego Bay with 7-weights and sinking lines. We motored up to the first spot and hooked into fish after just a few casts. Minus the top of the tide in the afternoon we had pretty steady action for Spotted Bass, Sand Bass, Calico Bass, Halibut, Corvino, Mackeral, and the famed Lizardfish. All of which were new species for my brother and I. I had not really counted on fishing San Diego Bay but was glad we linked up with Captain Sergeant. It is a sweat fishery with a lot of variety and the possibility of some large fish and even leopard Sharks.
If you're in southern California put the eastern Pacific Ocean, San Diego Bay and Mission Bay on your to-do list.
Needless to say my brother and I had a bomber trip, oh yea, the wedding was amazing as well, except it was a 106 degrees during the ceremony.
-Trent
Pictures attached…
In the first picture you can see the wild fires burning in the city, kinda crazy.
http://www.tpfr.org
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