Summer Shark Tournaments - Part 1

When a big shark is caught, word quickly spreads throughout the fishing community and local news networks. Pictures of a giant 996-pound mako landed in one of the Block Island Shark Tournaments surfaced online and definitely created some waves in the offshore fishing community; a mako this size has reached sexual maturity and is a true apex predator, comparable to the great whites that have been spotted as of late off Chatham. I was excited to hear the news, and it quickly got me thinking about what would be my 3rd year fishing in the Martha’s Vineyard Monster Shark Tournament, even though it was still weeks away. Itching to land a shark, I reached out to the 24-year old captain, Tommy Howd, of Fish Tales, out of Westport, MA, who I’d heard through a friend was looking to fill one last spot to fish the Snug Harbor Tournament in early July. Tommy told me to pack my bags for a 2am wake-up the next morning, and I almost immediately started prepping my gear.

I got to Westport a couple hours after work and met the crew: Tommy, his younger brother Steve, Michael, and Pete. We packed-up the coolers, prepped the gear and hit the bunks. It was easy to see that I wasn’t the only one excited for the run offshore after a quick nap. The 2011 Monster Shark was the last tournament Tommy and his crew entered and Fish Tales, the 27-foot Shamrock, showed up to the scales with a 448-pound thresher shark, taking 5th out of the 100-plus boats in the tournament. This is an impressive catch, period – not to mention the fact that the fish didn’t exactly fit inside the cockpit.

Despite the excitement from rehashing the crew’s prior year’s achievements, our 2 am wake-up call came quickly. We loaded the boat and started running in the dark towards the warmer water south of Martha’s Vineyard. We started marking bait and reached the temperature break around first light. Tommy killed the engines and we started chumming. Our slick consisted of a menhaden oil drip, homemade bluefish chum, and hand cut chum. We sent out a 4-rod-spread into the slick – this included three butterflied bluefish fillets under skirts and balloons, and one live bluefish on the far rod. The bluefish had been caught the day before, and was swimming with spunk straight back into the slick, but then it turned back towards us. Suddenly, we saw its wake on the surface, and then, another, much more distinguishable wake behind a tail, which ended up being the prolonged tail of a thresher shark. Both wakes disappeared from the surface and the drag clicked slowly, but we were not sure if the shark had taken the bait. When line started bursting off the reel, moments later, we knew had a fish on. Tommy grabbed the rod, letting the fish run as he tightened the drag and set up on the fish. The thresher shark rolled on the surface, gave us a wave goodbye with his tail, and spit the hook. Just as quickly as it had happened, it was over.

Disappointed, but not discouraged, we continued fishing throughout the morning with optimism, due to our very encouraging first encounter of the day. Blue sharks were next to show up on the scene, and within an hour, each angler had caught and released a healthy blue. As the day dragged on, we continued working through the blue sharks, releasing fish up to 200 pounds. The Snug Harbor Tournament allows anglers to weigh one fish per day, including blue sharks, but because they are less than ideal table fair, we decided to wait for a mako, or the thresher that had eluded us earlier that morning. Our fish never came, and we decided to pack it up and hit the dock before dark, so we could get back out for round two the next day.

At 2:30 am, we made our way back out on the water, and began steaming farther south than the day before. We started marking bait around the temperature break, and not long after, we saw something skyrocket and cartwheeling hundreds of yards in the distance. I yelled, “mako,” and we all had our eyes pinned on the horizon. Suddenly, we all saw a big fish clear the horizon line and do a full flip. I was able to fire a few grainy photographs in the process. Tommy kept pushing the boat a little further, and we cut the gas and started the chumming. An hour later, as we sat by the rods watching our balloons bob around in the slick, Steve noticed a giant crash just to the left of our then long and winding slick. Again, eyes were pinned on the horizon, and then it finally occurred to me that I should review my photos. We were all surprised and in awe to see a commercial sized bluefin tuna cartwheel across the horizon. Not long after this realization, the line started to peel of one of the Penn 50s. The fish went straight under the us, and we had to put the boat in gear. After some positioning, and a fairly long fight, we tagged and released a healthy blue shark. Glad to have some action but we all were ready for another species. Moments later, we were on again, and the fish made a shallow run with bursting speed. Before we knew it, a gigantic thresher shark came clean out of the water, less than 100 yards off our bow. Its tail was splayed out for all of us to see, and it’s head was turned back towards us, as we exchanged glances before the long fight ensued. Tommy was on the rod and set the hook. Mike and Steve cleared rods and washed down the deck as Pete put the boat in gear. After 15 minutes, we had the fish next to the boat, and Mike grabbed the leader. We could see that this was the fish we had been waiting for, but the fish was not ready to give up just yet. Turning it’s head, slowly, it went for another run. Tommy worked hard to regain line, and the crew continued prepping the cockpit. Steve grabbed the flying gaff and Mike was able to grab the leader again, but the fish just turned and ran. The fish was running parallel to the boat when the hook pulled, and we had to head back to our slick and start over.

Every blue shark after that was just work, so we could get the baits back out in an attempt to redeem ourselves. After a dozen our so blue sharks, we were happy to see some new species. Pete was able to land and release a small dusky, and Mike pulled in a mako pup that we were sure to carefully release. With half an hour before lines out, we saw bait spraying and a of couple fins tearing through the water fairly close to our slick. All the rods were in except for one, and we watched it anxiously. We saw a blue shark swim under the boat, and figured we were in for more of the same. Pete was half-asleep at the bow when we watched the balloon attached to the rod he was holding slowly move, then the run, until it started moving with some speed. Pete clamped down on the drag, and then once again a jump. We all looked on as the silhouette of a thresher shark emerged in front of the afternoon sun; it almost seemed like a mirage, as we all just stood there watching. Tommy yelled to get the boat in gear as Pete passed the rod back over the outriggers, and into the cockpit to Steve, as we strapped on the fighting harness. We had been given another shot, and Tommy made sure to keep the mood calm and organized. We had the fish up and down for over an hour and it was comparable in size to the fish we had lost that morning. Steve would regain line only to have the fish see the boat and slowly turn away. Finally, the fish was doing tighter circles under the boat, and Mike was able to muscle it up. Tommy stuck the shark near the dorsal, and two more gaffs went in the nose. We looped the first tail rope, and then we started celebrating when the second tail rope was cinched.

It seemed like days had passed since we lost the fish that morning, and we were all ecstatic to redeem ourselves just as we were about to pack it up for the day. Tommy plotted a course for Pt. Judith so we could weigh the fish. By the time we were back in cell service, we were half an hour from Westport, half an hour from Pt. Judith, and half an hour late to the weigh-in. Tommy called Snug Harbor Marine and they let us know that we could weigh the fish. We got to the dock an hour late, but still happy to show up with what would have been the 3rd place shark. Our thresher hit the scale and came in at around 270 pounds. Out of 71 teams, the tournament leading fish was a 335-pound thresher caught by the boat Bilba. It was a bittersweet moment, but our crew was happy to get out and get another shot at amazing fish – not to mention have fresh steaks for the grill. I’ll be back on-board the boat Akula with Crimson Tide Charters this weekend for the 2012 Monster Shark Tournament, and I look forward to catching up with Tommy, after competing against him, for the second half of this report.

To book a charter with Fish Tales you can reach Capt. Tommy through email: Tommyhowd@gmail.com