Best Way To Catch A Mako Off Of South Florida

[Anonymous]

Do you really want to catch a Mako out on the Sword Grounds? I'll tell you a way that I think would work the best to increase your odds. It takes some work with a meat grinder and a big freezer which most of us don't have.

When you go out swordfishing and you get a fish, after you are done butchering it up for the table, take the carcase and scrape, scoop and cut as much meat off of it that you can. Keep the eyes, guts anything that you can salvage off the carcase. put it all in a bucket that can be sealed well and freeze it.

The next time you go out Swording and you get a fish, do the same thing to the carcase. when you have a full bucket of swordfish scraps, grind it up into chum and freeze it.

You could mix in some other oily fish like Tuna, Mackeral into the swordfish chum if you want, but I would try and keep it as much swordfish as possible.

When you have 1 or 2 five gallon buckets of frozen ground swordfish chum head out to the swordfish grounds and set up your drift with the chum in the water.

You could set out 3-4 rods baited with squid maybe you'll get a swordie or Mako, but I would have one rod baited with a slab of swordfish (if legal) ready to pitch at a mako that comes up to the boat looking for the dead swordfish to feed on.

The rig up north I use to catch Mako is:

a 6 foot lenght of 500-600 pound single strand wire with an eye twisted on 1 end. the other end I twist to a 600lb swivel (use a good quality one). Take another 6 foot length of wire and twist it to the other eye of the swivel. On the other end of the the 2nd piece of wire twist on a 12/0 hook.

Then take a 20 inch piece of the single strand wire and twist it to the eye of the 12/0 and then twist on another 12/0 hook as a stinger. you want the hook about 8 inches-1 foot away from the first hook (depends on size of bait you are using).

The swivel keeps the wire from kinking if the fish jumps, it also gives you something to grab onto when leadering the fish.

I would recommend that if you do get a Mako to the boat and you are ready to stick it with a gaff, stick it at or behind the Dorsal fin. I have learned from expierence that if you stick a Mako in front of the dorsal fin and the fish decides to go beserk and jumps. Guess what it is coming in the boat with you. then get a tail rope on it, once you get the tail rope on it, the fish is yours. Hang it off a cleat it will drown. If you are uncomfortable doing that and you want to drag the fish go ahead.

If you bring the Mako into the boat, I would secure it. The way I would do it is; I would get the tail rope cleated off, get a rope and loop it around the shark behind the pec fins. Stretch the fish and cleat off the rope, the shark shouldn't go anywhere. If you beam isn't wide enought to do it this way and the fish is in the boat you can stretch it tail to the back cleat and pec fin rope to the bow cleat.

Anyway good luck if you whant to give it a try. You could also save the scraps and stick them in a chum churner if you have one instead of grinding them up.

Tight Lines

[FinalPoint]

Good $hit, Scott!

[Mike]

Indeed...

[Anonymous]

I'm bringing a shark rig tonight Pat, just in case.

[Anonymous]

I forgot to post the night that I posted this we got a Mako. Without any chum and on the first sword bait in the water. We got it to the boat in 2 hours and lost it at the gaff/harpoon. Fish went 160-200lbs

[Keith Poe]

I've caught over 3000 Makos and Threshers but check out the Salmon shark videos at this site. http://www.westcoastsportfishingshow.com/


www.sharktagger.com

[FinalPoint]

Keith, nice salmon shark video. Cool fish.