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Post by tropicbird on Jul 22, 2023 16:47:46 GMT -5
Couple friends fished today. One fished south of the Elbow on the reef trying for yellowtail and bottom fish. Everywhere he went he had shark problems. Lost 7 nice fish on the bottom and some YT on top. Each time he got a nice fish off the bottom it got sharked. Only got 8 YT past the sharks. The other fished off Carysfort in 240' and got one Yellow Jack, one Horseye, and an AJ that got sharked. Moved north to another wreck and got a 26 lb Cubera, and lost another Cubera that he watched as it got sharked near the boat. He's still out. Seems sharks are everywhere and hungry. How long will this continue? Both had screaming north current.
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Post by Crkr 23 on Jul 22, 2023 18:15:20 GMT -5
IMHO, until we start catching and killing them.
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Post by lemaymiami on Jul 23, 2023 11:02:40 GMT -5
The moment you lose a fish to a shark… you’ve got to re-locate. The longer you stay there - the more sharks will come to the spot. I know it’s tough to set up a chum line then have to start over but that’s what it will take… Most won’t leave and that just makes it worse and worse.
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Post by Captj on Jul 24, 2023 9:16:36 GMT -5
I've been fishing the deep with no chum and less shark problems. The shark issue has really gotten out of hand. Back in the day we would provide the final solution when necessary. Don't know what would happen today if we started popping them on the reef.
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Post by Laxcoach on Jul 24, 2023 19:40:22 GMT -5
My dad says the population of sharks really popped when long line fishing was (mostly) outlawed 20 something years ago. That said, he says the fishery got healthier too. I don’t know if he is right bc I haven’t lived in FL full time since the early 90s
I grew up snorkeling and diving from key west to Boca. Up to the age of 20 in 1992, I can count the sharks I saw (other than nurse sharks) on one hand. They were never visible.
I see them every time I take one of my kids diving now. In Jewfish Basin/Cut area, we’ve seen scary big bull sharks while spearing. Heck, in 2004, I had a juvenile bull come at my stomach and stalk me all the way back to the boat.
My last day in Hillsboro this season, 7/16, we saw an Atlantic white tip while trolling. I’ve never seen one before. I only knew what it was because of the scary WW2 USS Indianapolis story.
It’s a problem that needs to be addressed at some point.
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