myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

Whenever I go Tobago I usually do a lot of shore fishing but not once have I ever caught a shark. So I was wondering if anyone out there has ever caught a shark while shore fishing in Tobago.

While we were staying at Coco Reef in April for our wedding/honeymoon we had a room with views over the adjacent Store Bay. At about 6:30am one morning a group formed on the beach very excited about something. A woman was dragging something in from the sea on a line. It was a shark but I don't know if it had been caught on a line or was coming off a boat.

It appeared to be a Hammerhead although even through binoculars it was a bit difficult to tell. Once the man appeared with the knife and started hacking it up we decided to stop watching as it would put us off our 7:00am breakfast!

Hi B. Jack

I've never seen a shark caught and landed from any of the beaches, but I would imagine that it is a distinct posibility, especially at night, anywhere fish offal is dumped by the local fishermen e.g Buccoo, Mt Irvin, Plymouth, Charlottesville etc.

I've seen a variety of sharks when wading the flats at Pigeon point and Friendship - mostly small nurse sharks, but I've come within 2 metres of a nurse shark of over 2.5 metres. It saw me and took fright, as the water was 0.5 metres deep you can imagine the commotion it caused.

My friend Mike saw a good-sized bull shark in the shallows at Pigeon Point, just around from the windsurfing school. It was hunting mullet and they were exploding out of the sea in an effort to escape. Mike tossed a plug at it - more in interest than actualy trying to hook it. It turned to grabbed the plug, but didn't hit the lure and in doing so came within touching distance of Mike's legs. It then took fright and disappeared (if you've seen Mike's legs you'll understand why) Mike then went home to change his underpants.

There seem to be more sharks inshore this year, with many local fishermen telling tales of sightings or being bitten off by shark but I think that they are very timid animals, so pose little or no threat to swimmers, especially in broad daylight.

Best of luck with the shark fishing - let me know if you get one.

Steve

Thanks Steve

Before anyone starts panicking, can I just clarify your penultimate paragraph, where you say...

many local fishermen telling tales of sightings or being bitten off by shark

I assume you're using an angling term that means that the line is bitten off, rather than that the fisherman is bitten off.

Yes Steve.

Sorry about any confusion there.
Being 'bitten off' is an angling term for having the fish that have hooked and are attempting to bring in on the end of your line (usually a tuna, tarpon or bonefish) being attacked by a shark or barracuda. All you end up with is the head on your hook and the predator makes off with a free meal.

As far as I'm aware, none of the local fishermen have had anything else bitten off, including parts of their anatomy.

Cheers
Steve

Hi Steve's,
Not fishing but late last year was pretty good for sharks while diving. Every dive on the reefs around Crown Point has at least 4 or 5 good size black tips or nurse sharks. We even saw some feeding in during the day which was a bit unusual. The only down side was no Hammerheads up at the Sisters.

Best of luck with the fishing, as long as they go back for us divers to look at.

Regards
Kevin

Kevin

I certainly second your comment about releasing sharks.

Millions are killed each year around the world- often the fins are just hacked off and the carcass then dumped. For the most part, they don't bother man, so let's give them a break.

Steve

Hi Steve, I spoke to someone who told me that late last year he caught a few hammerhead sharks around 3 feet in length from the shore somewhere in bacolet. He also made sure to revive the sharks before release.

yes, release the sharks!!

rapidly becoming endangered, check PADI website for their conservation projects etc etc

regards
paul