jaws – Islamorada Shark Fishing

4/15/14 Big Tiger Shark on the Bn’M II

I had Nick and Caroline from London out fishing in Islamorada on the 15th, and Nick said he wanted to catch something big. Well the old saying goes, “be careful what you wish for”. And the old saying is true many times, but I like to change it up just a little, so I told him “be careful what you fish for”. We caught some live minnows in the morning, and started heading offshore to try to catch a monster shark. On the way out we caught a few mahi, and we finally reached the spot I wanted to fish. We set out two bonitos, which I had caught a few days before. We made our first drift, but no bites. I was a little discouraged because there wasn’t hardly any current, so I wasn’t sure if we’d get a bite. We reset and put out the two rods again. Bam! We got a bite on the deep line, but pulled the hook immediately. We wound it up to check it and it was just an empty hook. But then we saw the float on the shallow rod lay side ways. Usually it’s up and down vertical with the weight of the bait and sinker on it. We started cranked and the rod slowly bent over. Nick got in the chair and went to work.

The shark didn’t do much at first, so I thought we might have had a small dusky or bull shark on. But then he woke up and the battle was on. It was an hour tug of war, and when Nick finally got the giant shark up on the leader he couldn’t believe his eyes! It was a 10′ , 500 + lb tiger shark! He was literally speechless. We got a little under water video of the beast boat side, and after a few minutes we broke the leader and the fish swam away healthy.

It was an awesome fight and an awesome fish. Fishing for big sharks takes patience, but if you get the right bite you’ll have a memory to last a lifetime! Congrats Nick! email me if you’re serious about trying to catch a big shark at bnmcharters@gmail.com

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

4/7/14 Big Bull Shark!

Now is prime time to go monster shark fishing in Islamorada! We left on the Bn’M II yesterday morning and the plan was to go vertical jigging, and then head to the hump to try for a big shark. When we hit the first spot we found some AJ’s, but the sharks had found them too! We managed to catch a handful of who ones, but the sharks got a few of them too!

I thought about shark fishing in the first spot, but I really felt confident with heading to the hump where the sharks school up this time of year. It can be a feeding frenzy on the spawning amberjack. We sent down a live jack on one rod, and put a dead bait near the surface. Before we got the live jack down we had a bite! Colin got in the chair and went to work. After about 20 minutes we got a visual on the beast!

We could tell it was a nice size shark. Once we got him closer up on the leader we identified it as a very large bull shark! Well over 300 lbs!

After taking a few pics we cut the leader and the big fish swam away. It was Colin’s first bull shark, and it was a darn nice one!

We made a few more drifts over the hump, and each time we had a bite. I think we used up all our luck though, because we lost one more shark after a 15 minute fight, and the other few bites got our bait off the hook. It was a fun day though, and I am looking forward to the rest of April, as well as Shark fishing May! Send me an email if you want to try to catch JAWS! bnmcharters@gmail.com

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

3/25/14 Monster Shark Season has begun in Islamorada!

Well Monster shark season is here folks! I did two shark fishing charters the past week and we were successful on both of them! We fished on the Bn’M II. Just catching bait was a blast. We had amberjack on vertical jigging outfits from 10 – 50 lbs!

The first trip we caught a big tiger shark about 450 lbs. The next trip we had a 15 year old kid from Minnesota who said he wanted a shark. And boy did he get a shark. Two actually, and his dad got one to finish up. We caught amberjack in the morning, and then ran to the shark grounds. We fished one bait on a buoy, and one deep line. We put the baits out and within 5 minutes we hooked up!

Young Charles got in the fighting chair and after a 15 minute fight had an 8′ hammerhead, about 200 lbs boatside! We took a few pics and released the shark to fight another day.

We then made a couple more drifts with no action. We didn’t give up though. I wanted Charles to get that monster! We put on some fresh bait and sent the baits back out. Within 10 minutes we had a bite. A big bite. Charles got harnessed up in the chair. The Shark smoked the reel, pulling drag at will. He then raced to the surface, and headed west. I knew it was a big one. Then the shark went deep. Charles fought the beast for an hour. Then we had a visual.

It was a monster tiger shark. Over 500 lbs! We got the fish next to the boat and took some pics before releasing it to fight another day.

Dad wanted a shot too, so I said lets make one more drift, but I don’t know if we would get lucky again. Well we were letting out the baits and the deep line got a bite. Mark went to work in the chair. After a 30 minute fight he had a 400 lb dusky shark under the boat on the leader. We didn’t get any good pics of it because the hook pulled on the leader, but he still got to see it and experience the brute strength of a giant shark! April is my favorite month for big sharks, so send me an email at bnmcharters@gmail.com when you want to try your luck at a monster shark!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk