# Chandeleur Sharks



## Wading Away (May 26, 2004)

Hello,
This is my first time posting on this board although I have been reading it for some time. A group of us recently took a trip to Breton Island in the Chandeleur chain. The trout fishing was pretty slow due to all the rain in New Orleans and point north resulting in too much fresh water. The trip was saved for me by the unbelievable shark fishing. A couple of us decided to see if we could hook a shark late one evening. The thought was to cast out a couple of lines with cut mullet in the surf, wade back in and down a couple of cold ones waiting for a run. Didn't quite work out that way, we had the first shark on within 2 minutes. After landing the 5 1/2 ft blacktip, we decided we would hit it again late the next morning. 

After another fairly unproductive morning chasing trout, we hit the beach at about 11 am. Over the next several hours we landed I would say 8-10 sharks all from 4 1/2 to just under 6 ft. For the majority of the day, the average was probably less than 5 minutes from the time the bait hit the water until a fish was on. I would guess we broke off at least that many or more due to not enough steel leader or just flat getting spooled with larger fish. Almost every jump or roll of a spinner resulted in a break off. All caught fish were released unharmed. I had not fished for sharks from the beach since I was a kid and forgot just how fun it was. If you ever make it out to the islands, it is sure a fun way to spend one of the days and can save the trip if the trout/red fishing is off.

The bait of choice was either cut bluefish or cut mullet with the bluefish being by far the most effective. The bait we used was not very big because we did not have any big rods. Most of us were using rigs suitable for kingfish, so casting big baits was not an option. Also, with no method or running the baits out, we used pretty short steel leaders to allow casting knowing we would probably break off some fish. Next time we will probably bring a boat around to the beachfront to run out larger baits as there are no kayaks or watercraft on the island. 

I do have one question, can anyone identify the shark below from the 4 pics below. Sorry for the quality of the shots, I thought we had taken a picture of him on the beach but apparently not. The pictures do not do him justice, this shark was very black. Does anyone know what it is? The last picture in one of the guys with one of the larger sharks.
Thanks in advance!


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## SurfRunner (May 22, 2004)

Nice report! I have always wanted to go there for a trput/shark trip. Looks like a lemon shark to me.


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## Sharkhunter (May 22, 2004)

That place is eatup with shark. I would have to say it is one of the best shark fishing spots in the USA. Most people go for the trout but I tell ya the sharks are a great bonus. I think one could land a truely huge shark there from the surf with little effort. I believe they are that thick.I fished there off of our mother ship one night and hooked 3 differt sharks within 2hrs I could not stop with a 4/0wide and 40lb test.


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## SkipJack (May 24, 2004)

Interesting looking shark.....I would say lemon due to the 2nd dorsal.


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## BigJoe (Jun 1, 2004)

Looks like you got some good looking lemon sharks! Except for the last shark in the last picture it looks a lot like a bull to me. 1st dorsal is short, snout is more rounded, and the 2nd dorsal fin is no where near the same size as with the lemon sharks.


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## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

Might even be a melanistic lemon. Can't really tell, but if he was truly black, that would be a rare catch indeed.


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## gator (May 22, 2004)

Looks like you had alot of fun.


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## Sea-Slug (May 28, 2004)

*Congrats*

Awesome pics


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## Wading Away (May 26, 2004)

*Wish I had known...*



Subourbon said:


> Might even be a melanistic lemon. Can't really tell, but if he was truly black, that would be a rare catch indeed.


Subourbon, He was truly black. I sure wish we had taken a picture of him on the beach. We thought we had, but we were using a digital camera and it was pretty hard to tell when we were taking pics due to the bright sun in the background. I also wish I had known this was an unusual shark. I haven't fished exclusively for sharks in 20+ years, so I'm pretty uninformed. I did research it a bit on the web and thought lemon shark was the best match, but the color was all wrong.

Big Joe, the first 4 pics are the same shark.

I have a bunch more pics of some of the other sharks caught on a cd at work, I'll post them later.

Thanks everyone for the info!!


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## willbo (May 21, 2004)

*Hell yeah*

Sounds like a helluva lotta fun. That report just added more fuel to the fire, as I will be making a trip there in late July.

Of course the first priority will be the spots 'n dots, but if we limit early, I want to get in on some of that sharking action, too.

Sweet report.

willbo


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## Mud Skipper (May 21, 2004)

*Sharks, Sharks and more Sharks!*

I just had a buddy get back from a trip there. He said he spent as much time watching out for sharks as he did fishing. Basically you could not put a trout on a stringer with it becoming bait. Sounds like a blast though. They would fish for trout and reds during the day and fish off the back of the mother ship at night for sharks - I gotta make one of those trips. Great value too, they spent less than $500.00 per person for 3 days fishing!

Andy


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## Wading Away (May 26, 2004)

*A few more pics*

I'm probably breaking some etiquette rule by posting too many pics, but here are a few more

Willbo-Trout and reds were our priority as well. But I will never go back without setting several hours aside for shark fishing. It was a total hoot! Pick out a section of beach, cast out, hang on!!

Mud Skipper-I'm with you on the value. Best fishing vacation going that I know of. Enjoy!!


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