thresher shark (bucket list fish)

Hi all. My name is christian myrick. I am from dallas area and comming to santa cruz area for a couple days. Usually i fish for big trophy catfish. Ive been reading a bunch and understand there is thresher shark there. If so how to catch them? Verywilling to put in the work necessary. I dont really eat fish so would like to see the fish swim off after the fight. Any help or advise is very welcome. Thanks.

I'm no expert on this subject as I generally don't target sharks but here's a quick story:

The one and only time I fished SC harbor I hooked into a decent Thresher. I was fishing for halibut. I was drifting a three-way rig. That was a year when tons of sardines were stacking the harbor entrance. I had just jigged a live one and placed it onto the hook. On the other line was a Storm Swimbait Mackerel patern instead of a weight. I was a novice at the time and tied it all with modified cinch knots. I was fishing the bottom just out from the break. The thresher wacked the swimbait HARD, hooked instantly and got pissed right away. Within moments it was breaching over and over and performing flying acrobatics, tail in the air. I was totally unprepared and it pulled hard enough to untie a knot. The water was clear enough for me to see it swim off with the swimbait in the corner of its mouth dragging a Sardine on the 3-way swivel. Sad sight and lessoned me to tie real knots thereafter. I have yet to have anything go that ballistic since and I have had some very large fish. There was a lot of energy in that thresher. I wish you luck.

   Great story !    Wow... 

    That would be a "Hail Mary" if we could check thresher off your bucket list Christian..

They are here, but a little  hard to target.  I've only hooked & landed one in my lifetime out of Santa Cruz.  I've heard of guys trolling large Rapala's for them with some luck along the kelp bed edges.  If I remember right, we too were fishing for Butts along the edges of a kelp bed when I hooked into my Thresher.  They are good eating too!

I think it's totally random man. I hooked one while mooching for salmon off Lovers Point a couple years back. Only had it on for a minute before it sliced through my line.

Live bait in the middle of the column is where I've always hooked them, they almost never get mouth hooked, more common is a tail hook that happens when they whack at your mackerel for a stun. I hooked a nine or ten footer in as an Diego, tail walks, multiple jumps, I had his tail in my lap three times but he popped off..... They will be here this year in the bay I think, D anglin won a tourney at Oyster appoint with a nice one. I think it's the best tasting shark by far too.
 Have a lively mackerel lip hooked and watch for marks in mid column.

 Thanks Ben   
    We'll be going after them over the next three days...     Man,  I'm really looking forward to fishing with Christian again.      Besides his team being in the lead in Kayak Wars,  his latest catch will be featured on Kayak Fish Magazine this summer issue.   
 Sorry I'm missing the GS, but  living 5 minutes from Monterey Bay, it's hard to justify the 10 hrs drive time up to Shelter and back.    Especially with the Halibut bite going off locally.
    If anybody else is going to be around, look for us either at SC   or  Davenport ,  Ch 69

There is a guy I think in Ventura county. His name is Jeff Krieger I think he guides for threshers. Or could you the best information where you may run into one. Coming that far away I would hate to see you go home with all your fingers and no story. Just teasing

Rhynobar Kayak Fishing Acces
Jeff Krieger,Rhynobar
6768 Sandalwood Drive
Simi Valley, CA 93063 - View Map
Phone: (805) 520-9713
Web: Rhynobar.net

Thank you all very much for the info. Im ready. Few more hrs and im gonna be there.

Sorry I'm missing the GS, but  living 5 minutes from Monterey Bay, it's hard to justify the 10 hrs drive time up to Shelter and back.    Especially with the Halibut bite going off locally.

It was a 14hr drive roundtrip for me...with 2 kids in the backseat...and I'm 2 minutes from the Bay...but all I dream about is Shelter Cove.

There's a downlow fishery for t-sharks in Mbay but it is seasonal; when they're in thick it's usually on the north side, from Seacliff up...all the way to Dav. But the ones we see are usually pups. Remember they are like 3ft long when born. So it's good practice to release smaller ones. After eating the last one I caught, I decided it's not worth the effort (of keeping & cleaning) because it didn't taste good to me. But it would be fun to C&R one from the yak. I've seen them hooked while drifting a live mack...also sardine...but I would try to cover more ground by trolling a huge ass Rapala...try to find birds and/or bait then troll circles around em.

This one was caught trolling a huge ass Rapala (actually a Storm knockoff) on the front side of San Clemente Island. Pedaling about 3-4mph.

sometimes smaller rapalas work well, if the fish are feeding on anchovies. Black/silver and mackerel patterns are the usual choices.
It is common to tail hook them. I set up a 40lb rod with an avet for shark trolling.
They are more common in southern cali, but are found here in SC sometimes as per the tales above!
I've got a Thresher on my bucket list as well, so best of luck & go get'em!

My last one I hooked was off of double point south of bodega. Small but fast. They are incidental catch fishing with live anchovies while drifting beaches for halibut.