# Catching shark this time of the year



## fishingmagnet

When do you think is the best time to catch sharks? Is it when the water get warmer like around April? And what is the best shark bait? is it pieces of stingray? Or it can be any cut bait?


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## sharkchum

I don't even try for sharks till may. Fresh whoring is my favorite bait for smaller ones and jacks and bonita for bigger ones

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk


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## HuntinforTail

Sharks will start moving in when the water gets to be about 65 degrees. Last year lots of sharks were already being caught on the Texas upper coast at this time. This year we've had a cold winter and it will take a bit longer.

As for bait, use whatever is in the surf at that time. If there are lots of mullet, use mullet. If all you can catch are whiting, use whiting. Stingray is a pretty good bait most of the time too.


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## justletmein

sharkchum said:


> I don't even try for sharks till may. *Fresh whoring* is my favorite bait for smaller ones and jacks and bonita for bigger ones


Man, the things you gotta do now days to catch a dang shark! :slimer:


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## sharkchum

justletmein said:


> Man, the things you gotta do now days to catch a dang shark! :slimer:


!!!!!!WHITING!!!!!. Stupid phone. LOL


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## Agee008

justletmein said:


> Man, the things you gotta do now days to catch a dang shark! :slimer:


LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That made me spit up my breakfast! WOW!


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## Deer30

Agee008 said:


> LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That made me spit up my breakfast! WOW!


Lmao


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## WadeFisher

Sheepshead works fairly well around this time as well.


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## FIDO

Fresh Whoring is the best bait if you want crabs, but NOT sharks.


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## Devin 85

that's hilarious!!


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## waltmeda

Heck, I thought a "whoring" was some type of bait fish I've never heard of. I was thinking "I need to get some of that whoring!!"


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## matagordamudskipper

Sharks are hear. Not uncommon to go catch em up right now.


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## Blueshoes

I disagree that sharks are here right now. I do believe as per older reports, other fisherman, and research statistics that 20 degrees C is the magic number for them (sandbars) to be around. You wont find me shark fishing until it hits around those temps. Still another 10 degrees to go for us upper coast guys. 

Briefly said, I was on a research cruise recently and the number of fish we caught was VERY dependent on water temperature, a single degree C made a HUGE difference. Literally no fish to over 10-20 per longline


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## matagordamudskipper

Well we caught this Saturday night at Matagorda. Ive caught sharks in water just as cold and a buddy that has caught blacktips, sandbars, and even a bull in water just as cold(er). As the water gets warmer more will come, but not impossible to catch them when it is around 60 degrees.


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## Greatwhite

:cheers:


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## Greatwhite

Blueshoes said:


> I disagree that sharks are here right now. I do believe as per older reports, other fisherman, and research statistics that 20 degrees C is the magic number for them (sandbars) to be around. You wont find me shark fishing until it hits around those temps. Still another 10 degrees to go for us upper coast guys.


So I guess until the temps get up you'll just lurk the forums and act like you know what sharkin is?


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## Blueshoes

bahaha did i stir the pot too much bud? Im just not fond of padding through several sets of breakers in 58 degree water when its overcast and raining to have considerably less odds of catching what im going after. Yes i think its safe to say the odds are indeed higher with warmer water temps. Yes i also know that there are a few that might be around.

FYI we had a sharking trip this past weekend. 

Nice to see that sandbar caught though! First one ive heard of here recently up here! Whilst at the jetties back feb 2013, we had a buddy catch a baby sandbar on crab in another boat, that was a bit of a surprise haha.


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## Greatwhite

I don't think you're intentionally stirring anything. Its just the "matter of fact" way you tend to get on the boards and say things. 

I don't care if you're fishing right now or not, or how many sharks you've caught out of a boat, just don't like your tone. 

Disagreeing like that with someone who's been running the beaches a lot longer than you, me or even some of the older guys on here just makes you look dumb.


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## Blueshoes

lol it doesnt make me look dumb, im stating my opinion and for the most part i think people could agree with me fairly well in saying that the abundance of sharks increases with water temp. 

Skipper, how was the algae down there? Did you guys have any run in with the bright green kind?


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## JOHNNYREB

Blueshoes said:


> lol it doesnt make me look dumb, im stating my opinion and for the most part i think people could agree with me fairly well in saying that the abundance of sharks increases with water temp.
> 
> Skipper, how was the algae down there? Did you guys have any run in with the bright green kind?


I'll bet he did, but it didn't come from the water lol

Nice sandy Leon! Pins sandbars shouldn't be too far off now. Personally I'm a mid 60s guy, screw that cold chit!


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## Greatwhite

hahaha true Gorda style


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## surfguy

Nice shark man! I've run shark baits 4X since Jan. The best I could do was to lose a ray 2 weekends ago. Good to see there is at least one out there now. Maybe he was the scout! LOL


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## kweber

I'll set camp... 
Fletcher???
whar' ya at????

:rotfl:


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## matagordamudskipper

Hahahaha
No algae in the water to speak of, there was some dead chit earlier in the week.
Going to try again this weekend, fishing a new beach we shall see how it goes. 
Even with the cold winter the mosquitos are back, of course not many of them yet....Oh and Matagorda is developing a fire ant problem. Noticed them last November collecting fire wood, Catchsharks(Steven) and I were gathering I said Fire ants *** come check this out, just about the same time he drops a log covered in them with his hand chewed up. Well they are still there, Girl friend or I tossed a log with them on it in the jeep.


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## JOHNNYREB

kweber said:


> I'll set camp...
> Fletcher???
> whar' ya at????
> 
> :rotfl:


Lol...my guess is, hiding in the dunes!


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## surfguy

JOHNNYREB said:


> Lol...my guess is, hiding in the dunes!


LOL Look for the bucket with the pile next to it. :biggrin:


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## surfguy

Got this one this morning. 7'6" Sandbar.


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## jagarcia10

Nice sharks Leon and Ron! 



Ron were you able to get the proper photos and info for Team KeepIt Reel?


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## surfguy

WHAT said:


> Nice sharks Leon and Ron!
> 
> Ron were you able to get the proper photos and info for Team KeepIt Reel?


Nope. I hit the beach before I could get my stuff.


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## matagordamudskipper

Nice shark!! We got 2 sandies just shy of 7ft and FAT along with 8 or 9 reds all 42" to 46" this weekend. Had to paddle one of them in holding the leader and pulling it in the kayak...made for a long tough paddle from dropping baits 600 yards+


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## jagarcia10

surfguy said:


> Nope. I hit the beach before I could get my stuff.


I see. Well Im sure you'll get into some more now that they are showing up! :cheers:



matagordamudskipper said:


> Nice shark!! We got 2 sandies just
> shy of 7ft and FAT along with 8 or 9 reds all 42" to 46" this weekend. Had to paddle one of them in holding the leader and pulling it in the kayak...made for a long tough paddle from dropping baits 600 yards+




Why did you have to paddle one in?


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## Big Guns 1971

You can catch sharks all year long it just depends where you are fishing.


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## matagordamudskipper

You sure can catch them all year, from what I understand is they stay in the water. 
My line broke way down the spool, So I went out to the buoy to trace my line back and tie it together out there. But that was not going to happen with my buoy heading away like the scene from JAWs. With nothing more than 200 yards of line and a paring knife I decided it was best to take hold of the leader and challenge it to a tug of war with leader in hand, over the shoulder, and paddling towards land, he wanted open ocean and if I stopped for even just a second he would make a break for it. I eventually got close to the 2nd bar and tied the leader to the reel, backed the drag wayyy off, hauled butt and surfed a nice one to shore just in time to crank down the drag and hand it to one of the guys that was fishing with us this weekend.


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## surfguy

matagordamudskipper said:


> You sure can catch them all year, from what I understand is they stay in the water.
> My line broke way down the spool, So I went out to the buoy to trace my line back and tie it together out there. But that was not going to happen with my buoy heading away like the scene from JAWs. With nothing more than 200 yards of line and a paring knife I decided it was best to take hold of the leader and challenge it to a tug of war with leader in hand, over the shoulder, and paddling towards land, he wanted open ocean and if I stopped for even just a second he would make a break for it. I eventually got close to the 2nd bar and tied the leader to the reel, backed the drag wayyy off, hauled butt and surfed a nice one to shore just in time to crank down the drag and hand it to one of the guys that was fishing with us this weekend.


Nice job Leon! Nick and Dalton were fishing with me Sat but left during the night. When I hooked into this 7'6" sandbar at 5:30am Sun, it was still dark and very foggy. I fought it from the truck rack for 20min and could not even see it until I got it on the sand. Ended up dehooking, measuring it and releasing it by myself. I wish I would have remembered how to do a self timer portrait on my camera. LOL


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## SeaAg

matagordamudskipper said:


> You sure can catch them all year, from what I understand is they stay in the water.
> My line broke way down the spool, So I went out to the buoy to trace my line back and tie it together out there. But that was not going to happen with my buoy heading away like the scene from JAWs. With nothing more than 200 yards of line and a paring knife I decided it was best to take hold of the leader and challenge it to a tug of war with leader in hand, over the shoulder, and paddling towards land, he wanted open ocean and if I stopped for even just a second he would make a break for it. I eventually got close to the 2nd bar and tied the leader to the reel, backed the drag wayyy off, hauled butt and surfed a nice one to shore just in time to crank down the drag and hand it to one of the guys that was fishing with us this weekend.


Surprised you even used the kayak to chase it down... Lmao


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## jagarcia10

matagordamudskipper said:


> You sure can catch them all year, from what I understand is they stay in the water.
> My line broke way down the spool, So I went out to the buoy to trace my line back and tie it together out there. But that was not going to happen with my buoy heading away like the scene from JAWs. With nothing more than 200 yards of line and a paring knife I decided it was best to take hold of the leader and challenge it to a tug of war with leader in hand, over the shoulder, and paddling towards land, he wanted open ocean and if I stopped for even just a second he would make a break for it. I eventually got close to the 2nd bar and tied the leader to the reel, backed the drag wayyy off, hauled butt and surfed a nice one to shore just in time to crank down the drag and hand it to one of the guys that was fishing with us this weekend.


Haha, awesome! Im sure that wasn't your first time doing something like that.

:cheers:


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## matagordamudskipper

I have done it before in the past, but this one was by far the hardest. The other ones bulls/blacktips were not quite as strong. Although nothing compares to a tuna in the kayak, maybe a swordfish. I dunno Ill have to try and find out this summer.


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## Greatwhite

matagordamudskipper said:


> I have done it before in the past, but this one was by far the hardest. The other ones bulls/blacktips were not quite as strong. Although nothing compares to a tuna in the kayak, maybe a swordfish. I dunno Ill have to try and find out this summer.


Ahhhh ha. I was wondering where nick kept getting this **** from. 
Can't get him to shut up about it


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## matagordamudskipper

It's painfully fun. Part that hurt the most was being hooked up for 4 hours or so, towed 7 miles then having a shark eat your prize catch.


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## surfguy

matagordamudskipper said:


> It's painfully fun. Part that hurt the most was being hooked up for 4 hours or so, towed 7 miles then having a shark eat your prize catch.


I heard about this from Phil. Still, it had to be a blast trying to land a big arse tuna with a kayak.


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## matagordamudskipper

It was a blast for sure! Phil landed the biggest one of the trip, 160#. Ryan and I both got nice ones @130#. I really wish I could have landed the mega tuna.


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## Fishingmatt

What did y'all catch the sandbars on?


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## matagordamudskipper

I caught mine on String ray hunks.


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## surfguy

Whole bull whiting. I had a ray and a cownose with big bites taken out but they missed the hooks! Probably too much bait for these narrow mouthed sandbars.


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## fishingmagnet

Is whiting aka croaker? Is croaker as effective as any other bait. Another question is live bait better than dead bait for sharks?


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## HuntinforTail

Nice job Ron! Glad to see you're already after them. I'm making my first trip next weekend.



fishingmagnet said:


> Is whiting aka croaker? Is croaker as effective as any other bait. Another question is live bait better than dead bait for sharks?


Whiting and croaker are 2 different fish, but they do look similar. Most people use dead bait for shark and have no problems getting bit.


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## surfguy

HuntinforTail said:


> Nice job Ron! Glad to see you're already after them. I'm making my first trip next weekend.
> 
> Thanks. Give 'em hell Chris.


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## Fishingmatt

Good to know sharks are moving in. I have my new 9/0 and a southern and a cow nose in the freezer waiting for warmer water.


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## surfguy

surfguy said:


> Whole bull whiting. I had a ray and a cownose with big bites taken out but they missed the hooks! Probably too much bait for these narrow mouthed sandbars.


The sharks are hitting just about anything right now. Here's a pic of the ray that got bit several times but missed the hook.


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## MudSharker

Awesome job guys!! I ran some lines last weekend on crystal and ended up with just a bunch of reds. I'm headed back to my normal area next weekend. Glad to know they are back in!!!


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## Blueshoes

we ran baits out two weeks ago, had a sheepshead out for 10 hrs, 3 more out for 6 hours and a ray out for 6 hours, all baits untouched at midnight.


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## matagordamudskipper

Was the water 68?


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## Blueshoes

ehhhhh im not totally sure in the surf we were fishing in. I kinda keep an eye on the water temps via NOAA and the ship channel was at like 65-66 and the end of the north jetty was at high 67- mid 68 depending on the time of day. So im not sure since that area of the surf is fairly far away from any water readings we have.


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## matagordamudskipper

I usually carry a thermometer...that is if I don't forget about it and the surf takes it.


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## oxxy513

nice catch bud, I'm going this weekend to run a few lines out. I've been away from the water for too long. "unleash the kraken" on them fish haha


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## Nathan

Anyone hear any reports on if the sandbars are still here?


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## surfguy

The Sandies are still here. You'll see some reports after the weekend.


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## Blueshoes

local fishing club reported 5 the other day and bulldogs bait shop posted a 6+ foot one caught off the 61st street pier today or yesterday i believe.


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## matagordamudskipper

Caught some this weekend. sandies, bull, and bullreds.


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## Agee008

matagordamudskipper said:


> Caught some this weekend. sandies, bull, and bullreds.


Sandies? Bull? Are these sharks? How big?


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## jimj100

matagordamudskipper said:


> Caught some this weekend. sandies, bull, and bullreds.


yakked or casted? man, i am looking at the surf cam at matty, and those breakers are well over the jetty. How long were you able to yak? It's been pretty rough this weekend, right? (I am also assuming you were fishing from the beach!)
Congrats on a reward for toughing it out in a rough surf!

Jim J


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## matagordamudskipper

Sandbars were a little over 5ft. Bullshark was a pup don't remember the length upper 3ft I think. Bullreds were 41'' or bigger with a couple 45''s. Mostly casted baits, I did kayak a large gafftop that went untouched for a change. Whiting and stringray were the baits of choice.


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## matagordamudskipper

Hookup ratio was terrible this weekend, possibly the worst its ever been for me. Weather is looking interesting this week shall see how it goes though.


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## jimj100

matagordamudskipper said:


> Hookup ratio was terrible this weekend, possibly the worst its ever been for me. Weather is looking interesting this week shall see how it goes though.


Thanks for the posts. One last q. U were at matty I assume, any oil?.


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## matagordamudskipper

At gorda. 
Umm we founds something what I believe is oil. We just went over processing oily waste in class, and it looks exactly like oil that has had chemical treatment. I grabbed a sample and will bring it to class tomorrow.


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