offshore – Islamorada Shark Fishing

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

I had Mark and his 3 boys out on the Bn’M II yesterday, and they wanted to catch a monster shark! I told them Florida Keys Shark fishing is as good as anywhere, if not the best! Mark had fished with the Legendary Frank Mundus off Montauk many times before, and wanted his kids to experience the battle of a big shark. We headed offshore of Islamorada about 13 miles in rough conditions, but 20+ knots of wind was going to keep the 36′ Jersey Devil back on land. We decided to try to catch some blackfin tuna first, but every time we hooked up, the sharks ate them before we could get them to the boat! Well I know we were in the right spot, and finally we got a few tuna in the boat. We rigged up the 80 wide rod and reel and sent down a fresh shark bait on a 16/0 circle hook. I like to use circle hooks to help insure a healthier release on the fish. We didn’t get a bite the first drift, but we made a second drift, and the rod doubled over!

Brian got in the fighting chair and harnessed up. I figured it was dusky shark, because that’s what had been out there lately. The shark wouldn’t give up though. I started to doubt it was a dusky, because we had been working on the fish for close to an hour! We went up and up on the drag, till we hit 35 lbs of pressure. Finally we got the leader on the fish. It took a few looks, but then I realized we had on the biggest dusky shark I had ever seen! The fish had a huge belly on him!

We were all in shock when Josh took some wraps on the leader and pulled the beast up to the side of the boat. The dusky shark was every bit of 500 lbs! Brian was out of breath but happy the battle was over. We took a few pics in the rough weather and then headed back to the reef to finish up the day. Mark said he had never heard of a dusky shark that big, but we did look in the record books and there has been fish over 700 lbs reported years back. It wasn’t a record, but it was a new best in my Book!!!

If you want to try your hand at a monster shark let me know and I’d be happy to get your out there! Send me an email at bnmcharters@gmail.com

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

Tag: offshore

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

November Shark Fishing in the Florida Keys!