shark kayak fishing in Prince william sound

just read this one...

http://www.adn.com/outdoors/story/9195704p-9112127c.html

Hah!  I was just about to post that.   

-Allen

And another writeup in the Ketchikan Daily News.

http://www.ketchikandailynews.com/premium/289512715798460.php

-Allen

ayak fishermen reel in four salmon sharks

By SCOTT BOWLEN

Daily News Staff Writer

The big sharks were flying when the fishermen arrived.

"(They were) jumping completely out of the water," said Howard McKim. "Tails splashing everywhere. ... We were just surrounded by all of them."

As McKim and three other kayak fishermen watched from the deck of a charter boat, the frenzied swarm of about 150 salmon sharks slashed through a pack of pink salmon in the otherwise glassy water near Prince William Sound's Hinchinbrook Island.

The fog-shrouded sight was surreal and a little intimidating. But they were there to fish for salmon sharks. So into the water they went.

Each of the fishermen is an experienced kayak angler.

McKim is a local guide who operates Ketchikan Kayak Fishing. Chris Mautin's Liquid Adventures company runs kayak fishing trips from Seward, and Allen Bushnell guides out of Santa Cruz, Calif. Allen Sansano works with the kayak manufacturer Ocean Kayak, which sponsored the shark fishing trip.

It was three years ago that McKim accomplished his first kayak fishing goal by landing a 183-pound halibut off Vallenar Point.

What does a kayak angler do next?

"I was thinking about what the most challenging thing in Alaska would be, actually," McKim said. "My first goal was a hundred-pound halibut, and after that was the salmon sharks."

A relative of the Great White and mako sharks, the salmon shark can reach nearly 12 feet in length and weigh up into the 700-pound range, according to the Conservation Science Institute.

A study conducted in Prince William Sound by fishery biologist Lee Hulbert indicated that most sharks there are 6 to 8 feet in length, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Prince William Sound is a hot spot for salmon sharks, especially off Hinchinbrook Island where volumes of pink salmon swim past on their way to spawning streams.

And thus Hinchinbrook was the destination on the morning of July 23 when the fishermen boarded a Pacific Mountain Guides charter boat at Valdez.

"We relied on their expertise as to where to go and how to do it," McKim said.

After more than two hours running time, they reached the fishing grounds.

"The backside (of the island) was just full of salmon," McKim said. "The sharks were just attacking them on the surface, all around us."

The anglers didn't wait around.

"We were so anxious to get in the water," McKim said. "I jumped in first, and was handed an entire pink salmon for bait."

His set-up for trolling a pink salmon behind the kayak included 100-pound braided line, 20-foot steel leaders and size 11/0 hooks.

"I dropped my salmon down and I was getting hits within two minutes," he said.

He quickly lost his first bait, perhaps to one of the many sea lions also present.

McKim baited up again and, within five minutes, got a hit that stuck.

"I got towed around pretty good for a little bit, then it dove straight for the bottom," he said.

Given that salmon sharks are kin to Great Whites and makos, McKim had been concerned that salmons might share their relatives' tendency to bite the boats that had hooked them.

But he was told that salmon sharks head for the bottom instead, and was reassured when his fish took a dive.

Even so, "I kept my feet in the kayak mostly," he said.

One of the other kayak anglers had begun paddling over to watch when he, too, got a shark on the line.

"Within 10 or 15 minutes, all four of us were hooked up," McKim said. "We were spread out fairly far... maybe yelling distance to each other. We were basically each on our own."

The key to fighting a fish of that size and power is controlling the drag on the reel, he said. The fish should be able to peel line off the reel when the angler has his hardest hold on the rod.

"You set the drag right on the reel, then it can never tip you over," McKim said.

After his shark dived, most of the fight was straight up and straight down, he said.

"It takes an incredible amount of pulling to get them to come up," he said. "It took about an hour each, which was shorter than we expected. We were thinking two- to two-and-a-half hours."

They estimated that the sharks weighed in the range of 400 to 450 pounds. They kept two and released the other two.

After bringing three of the sharks up to their kayaks, the anglers had help from the charter boat to release or bring the fish aboard.

"The fourth fish we handled just with kayaks," McKim said. "We got it up on our own, clipped a buoy to it, and then by hand, pulled up the leader, had the whole fish right next to the kayak, clipped the leader right at the hook, right at the mouth."

McKim said he took two tries to clip the leader from the exhausted but still very-much-alive shark.

"That was probably the riskiest point of the whole venture," McKim said. "But we wanted to prove that we could do everything unaided."

He added that, with kayak-style fishing, the angler really has to wear the fish out to even bring it to the boat.

The sharks that they kept were killed with a bang stick, brought aboard the charter boat and gutted immediately to preserve the meat (salmon shark is said to taste like swordfish, according to Fish and Game).

The overall experience of fishing for salmon sharks in a feeding area environment was less harrowing than McKim had expected.

"I wasn't that afraid like I thought I would be," he said. "I did have a pink salmon right next to my kayak that wouldn't leave, like using it for cover, and that's exactly what they were hitting. That's the only thing that was making me nervous."

After just three hours on the fishing grounds, the anglers headed back to Valdez, he said.

McKim said that as far as they know, their sharks are the biggest kayak-caught fish recorded in modern times.

"I'm sure some whales and things have been brought in in the past," he said. "As far as the current situation ... we think that's the record."

Talking with the Daily News early this week, McKim was asked what his next fishing goal might be.

"I don't have another goal as far as something any bigger than that," he said. "I'm not a trophy hunter."

He'd like to try kayak fishing at Kodiak, and perhaps take a trip back to Hinchinbrook Island for a week of fishing unaided by a support vessel.

"So this trip was a little bit of a test to see what we're up against, to see if it's feasible," he said.
 

Can't wait for the full magazine article w/ pics... need a journalist next trip?

Z

Truly Epic.........

  You Guys really Stomped on the Tundra on that one.....

  Love to get on board if your going again.....

  BTW, Do you have a pic of your kayaks rigged to the mothership?

  Awesome Achivement ........... Danglin

I didn't take any pics of the kayaks on the mothership.  But here's one of the inflatable and the kayaks being towed behind the big boat.

-Allen

Very Kool,

  A little off subject,

 The Trident looks kind of like a Battle cruiser on the water, simular to my Outback,

  What is your Take on how it handles,  It looks as though there is a little sacrafice in agility and control,

 Vrs. being more stable for bigger fish,  which suits me fine,  just wondering whats your take ( PolePole )

 is on the Trident,   ...... without slapping the hand that sends you!!!! ......Danglin

I haven't tried one yet.  Those are P13's in the pic and my Trident hasn't come in yet in Seattle.

-Allen

P13's.... wow,  I guess what I'm really refering to is a shot I saw of Pal @ Elk on the water,  I was surprised @ how high it sat in the water, looks kool, but I know the problems I have with the Outback being so high on the water, still I like it, but for a paddeling Yak,  well just going to have to try it,

  I'll be up there next week on a wurl wind family thing, possibly might have time Friday Morning 8/17,

  Take Care and Again, 

 Awesome Achievement,  Truly Epic   .........Danglin

possibly might have time Friday Morning 8/17,

Give us a call when you're in the hood.

Z

possibly might have time Friday Morning 8/17,

Give us a call when you're in the hood.

Z

I will, I have my Moms truck the whole time and will be staying in downtown Seattle, should have internet accecss, I'll Pm my cell .......... Danglin

That is just outragesly badass! I love you guys!