1 of 8

Write now Article Tools

Page 2 of 5

throttling down as we cleared the crest of each wave, surfing into the trough and cleaving, in a shower of spray into the next wave. The turbos whining on the big diesels as he throttled up to climb the next face in a never-ending series.

After our four-and-a-half hour ride we finally reached our "inshore" spot, an hour after "lines-in" but in a good patch of heaving sea. Pushing the range out to 12 miles on the radar, other boats in the tournament where visible, unless they were obscured by the huge purple patches on the screen the powerful squalls, trudging menacingly up from the southwest - that surrounded us.

We struggled to set-up; passing rods down from the rocket-launcher, setting up chum buckets and unstowing the gaffs and tools for a day of sharking.

We dropped our chum buckets over the side, snapped leaders on all the rods, and set-up the "cutting-board" for chum and baits.

As we lay drifting in the towering seas setting up, the boat swung stern-first to the wind. With our stern to the wind we would drift faster and have less protection from the passing squalls. But the boat will drift in a "bow-to" attitude quartering towards the sea, and this attitude makes for a drier, more comfortable and slower drift.

One of the guys fired-up the motors to spin the boat into the position we wanted. As he does a huge porbeagle shark, the telltale white patch at the base of its dorsal fin clearly visible, pops up beside the boat. Ten feet from the boat, and it's a big fish!

Rods are in the holders, chum-buckets are over the side, but the deck is still strewn with safety lines, leaders, bait coolers and fighting harnesses, the once securely stowed gear. Our inexperienced mate, hired the night before on the dock, freaks out and instead of just chumming to keep the fish close, tosses a hook-bait to the fish. At that moment one of the crewmembers, who didn't see, or hear about, the fish in the snapping breeze, engages the gears to spin the boat into our preferred bow-to attitude. The hook bait, its 15-foot stainless steel wire leader, 12/0 hook and 20 feet of double-line monofilament surge under the starboard side of the boat, winding up in the prop, shaft, struts and rudder.

Now I'm standing on the swim-platform bobbing waist deep in the water at the bottom of every 10 - 15-foot wave attempting to clear the line. Of course it won't budge, it's wrapped, the only question is on exactly what?

Someone has to go over the side and see what's going on down there, and clear the

• << previous page
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about True shark fishing stories?
We want to hear your view. Write now!