LJ 6/8 report and need advice
 

Didn't get on water til late about 0930, wind makes it rough by about 1 and off by 2. Fortunate enough to meet a kind chap on his way in so got some free bait. Able to pick up some more in about 80ft about mid column. Flylined one high and one low with intention of keep heading west until wind picked up but never made it past the condos. Got hit four times on the deep line, hit hard with line screaming (except the time I forgot to engage the clicker and almost got spooled before I realized it), great fights pulling hard on my heavy rod, bunch of runs. Each time just as I started to get a glimpse coming out of the depths, another run and disappears until finally I am able to pull her all the way up. Of course this was not the yellow I was looking for. Fun fight but I was not prepared to take these guys on board, each one was about 5ft and none were happy to see me. Of course by the third one I figured I should probably learn how to land them even if just to expand my limited knowledge.

So...anyone have advice on the safest way to land a shark should one decide that this a good idea?

Cut line as close to hook as possible with being safe.

If you want to eat one, stick it in the head with the gaff, stab and cut the gills with a knife, and let it bleed out pretty good before you try to bring it in the boat. Their teeth are no joke and they're super strong when they want to be. It's a really good idea to bleed and gut sharks as soon as possible, and cutting out that big old liver has the salutary effect of taking the fight right out of them!

If it's too big to go in the boat, throw a line around the tail and drag it back to shore.

Those tope sharks are OK eating, but not as a good as a thresher or mako. Sharks are best butchered into steaks and thrown on the grill. If it has any ammonia stink, you can soak the meat in a weak acid solution to get the stench out. Eat a smaller class shark sometime to see if you like it. It's a TON of work and if you don't end up liking it, you'll feel obligated to eat all this meat you killed and don't enjoy.

I don't fish for sharks, but of course hook a few each year. Like Murray said, cut the line as close as you can while feeling safe. Which is like 1' for a big leopard. But 10' for a little mako. Some times you can grab the line and break them off with a hard yank.

There have been lots of soup fins (tope) around lately. They're not aggressive but they are strong with a big enough mouth n teeth to do some harm. Stay on the side of safety cause a fish hook doesn't last long in a shark. Mike

Thanks
 

Appreciate the detailed feedback. I feel strongly about not wasting anything I pull out of the ocean so I want to know all about it and make sure I have enough mouths to feed before keeping it. Of course seeing the thrashing mouth full of teeth up close makes the decision to cut the line pretty easy for sake of safety.

They did put up a fun fight and I hooked all of them pretty much in the same spot in about 80 ft of water, at the bottom, just east of the condos so must have been schooling there.

So if one finds themselves landing a shark, it seems like controlling that head would be paramount, would a gaff shot under the jaw work or would that just piss them off? I think it would be wise to have another set of hands to assist and a camera rolling to capture the comedy of severed fingers, should that play out.

Finally, is shark meat freezable or does that just bring out the urea/ammonia taste?

Thanks again!