When Sharks Arrive, Part 1

Sooner or later every saltwater angler is going to come across a big shark. They’re one of the most exciting and sought after game fish in the ocean, but if your target that day are tarpon or bonefish, that unmistakable shape can be an incoming disaster.

Every flats guide has a bunch of good shark stories. The picture above was taken in the Marquesas five years ago. This was the end result of an eleven foot hammerhead meeting a six foot tarpon. The tarpon wasn’t even hooked by my angler in the photo, it was cut off from its school and pushed onto the flats by the shark. When the hammerhead finally nailed it they were less than twenty feet from my bow and in three feet of water. The chase lasted for over a minute and after one bite it was game over. The big hammerhead simply swallowed the tarpon’s back end and swam off the flat. From the bow of my skiff it was as exciting to see as a pro football game. If I was standing in the water at the time I may have felt differently.

When fishing from a boat you’re a spectator to Mother Nature’s drama. Step into the water and you can become an unwilling participant. This has happened to me several times while wade fishing for bonefish and other species. Sharks are a fact of life on all the world’s tropical flats and a struggling fish at the end of a fly line sounds like a clanging dinner bell to them.

The flats of the Bahamas are the best wading grounds in this hemisphere for bonefish and notorious for sharks. Talk to anyone who’s spent time in that area and they’ll have at least one close call with a prowling shark. I personally set the vertical leap world record when a baby lemon shark brushed my ankle on a flat in Eleuthra. The little two-footer was smaller than the bonefish I was hunting but came closer to killing me than any other wild animal ever has. Cardiac arrest is a serious threat when you’re fishing alone.

The most common species you’re likely to spot on a typical flat are nurse, lemon, and blacktip sharks. They’re all easily distinguished from each other and only the lemon and blacktip pose any threat for biting an angler. The slow moving nurse shark is a crustacean eater looking for conch or lobster. They get quite large but are actually a good sign of life on the flats. The lemon shark is a prime flats hunter and are notorious for attacking hooked bonefish. They’re identified by their yellowish-grey color and twin dorsal fins. I’ve seen these fish over eight feet in length. The blacktips have the classic fighter-plane shape and are beautifully colored. Their speed is astonishing and their leaps when hooked put tarpon to shame.

Only the smallest minority of wading anglers are ever bitten by a shark but when it does happen it inevitably makes the news. I consider stepping on a sea urchin a much more serious danger while I’m out bonefishing but a shark should be taken serious if you find yourself in the water with them. There are a few quick things to do if this happens and I’ll cover those in Part 2.