Tiger Shark

[BMITCH]

These guys need a safer hobby...like maybe skydiving without the parachute! They're insane! Awsome video though.

[Alto Mare]

I believe the guy on the kayak needs to find new friends .

[Bunnlevel Sharker]

Best de hooked for circles is a big set of crimpers, I'd rather cut the dang things. J HOOKS RULE!!! There so much easier to get out

[Tightlines667]

Sharks tend not to do so well after release with a J hook stuck in their throat/stomach.  I have caught severel severel years after they were first caught with J hooks still stuck in their digestive tracks and signs of serious malnutrition/ starvation present (they were skin and bones, and had actually decreased in overall length as well).  It is a commonly held belief that hooks left in place will rust and/ or fall out shortly after release.  Research and my personal observations suggest otherwise.  Many of today's modern hooks can take years to rust away in a saltwater environment.  On the other hand there are many instances of sharks surviving. in healthy states, for years with multiple hooks lined up along their mouths.  If the shark is hooked in the mouth or externally, and the shark can be released with less then it's full body length of gear still attached, and no damage to its delicate tissues (i.e. gills, eyes) occur, and it was not brought to a state of severe hypoxia for too long..it has a good chance of surviving capture.  Sharks are tough and resilant as well as being capable of surviving long periods of fasting, staving off infection, and dealing with severly elevated lactic acid levels in their tissues resulting from a prolonged fight, much better than bony fishes.  However, lack of a ridgid skeletal structure can lead to excessive internal organ damage when handled incorrectly out of water.  As with any fish that you are planning on releasing, catching them quickly, leaving them in the water, and dehooking them will give them the best post-release survivability.  We all like to believe that the fish/sharks we catch and release will be fine...unfortunately this is often not the case.  Many, esp. those hauled from deep water, fought for s long time, incorrectly handled, or deeply hooked animals do not live.  Aside from the obvious 'goners', some appear to swim away fine, but have been stressed beyond recovery, or substaining injuries that severely limit their ability to forage effectively, process food, obtain oxygen needed for substained activities, etc..  In general..fish and sharks in particular are strong/resultant critters that can take a lickin and keep on tickin, but sometimes they get too licked.  Responsible sportsmanship (regarding wantin waste, etc) is promoted and commonly practiced with hunting but often overlooked/misunderstood when sports fishing.  It's easy to take take pride in catch and release sportsfishing, but a little harder to add the word 'responsible' to that phrase.  If a fish/shark's post-release survivability is in question, and it's legal to do do, better to keep it.  Unless your chummin w/live bait, a crippled fish makes an irreparable target for predators. 

[BMITCH]

Tightlines, I've done some reading on this subject and agree with you on the post release mortality rate. Really there is no way of telling if the fish/shark is O.K. After release, other than tagging and tracking. As with most tracking studies these are done with the utmost care so that the fish/shark sustains minimal stress and damage. So the data in my belief is flawed. That being said, I too try and release fish in the best way possible and with out undue stress.
  The hook being left in the fish is interesting, I too was under the belief that they would rust out in a short time span. It appears that you have some first hand experience in this matter,so your insight is greatly appreciated. I will in the future make every attempt to try and remove the hook. No matter where it is lodged. Obviously a gut hooked fish is better on the dinner table than being released to suffer. But in this day and age of slot limits and regs. This is not always possible. So the question is do you risk keeping that fish that either puts you over the bag/slot limit or release it too inevitably die. The game warden may NOT see your point of view if you chose to keep it.
As far as gut hooked sharks, how to remove a hook that is waaaay down its throat? I don't shark fish so this is better answered by those who do. I'm sure it's done veeeeery carefully

[Shark Hunter]

It is the nature of the beast. If you gut hook a shark good, he is definitely going to die.
It hasn't happened to me, but it does happen. You have to look at it like this too, If he swims away and does not make it, he will not go to waste. He will get eaten.
You have to make a judgement call whether to keep trying to get the hook out and probably do more damage and waste valuable time while his lactic acid is building up, or let him go.
I lose no sleep over it, Its part of fishing. You make the decision and don't look back.
I realized another important tool I needed last trip and luckily I didn't need it, was a bigger knife!

[saltydog]

That Tiger was hooked in the mouth and if they had a pair of bolt cutters like all sharkers should have on them the hook point could have been cut off and the hook gone in mere seconds, but ill prepared fisherman are the ones that try to remove a hook from a shark with a pair of plyers. One slip and someone gets a lot of damage really fast. I bet know one on that beach has a trauma kit with them, accidents happen and with sharks I can attest to a few stiches dealt out to me and others I have fished with. They are big dangerous animals and can snap there jaws on you in a split second. I have a four foot re-bar de-hooker that I made for a couple of dollars and it has saved me many trips to the emergency room.

On the gut hooked sharks one thing I have learned is to just cut and get them swimming fast, a lot of the sharks I released in Florida were tagged and cut loose because of gut hooking and most of them have been re-caught again months to years later with the tags in them and no hook damage to speak of, but I use the cheapest non-stainless steel variety so that they do rust out. Expensive hooks are great but they do not help the animal your trying to release if the hook can't be recovered.

A good shark fishing kit should always include these items:

1. A backpack to carry them in and it can come with you if you have to go a half mile down the beach.

2. Boltcutters

3. Long de-hooker

4. Camera

5. Tags and tag stick with pen and tag card

6. Measuring tape

7. Tailrope

8. Wire and or cable cutters

9. Gloves for the wireman

10. 4-5 bottles of water for you and the reel

11. Your trauma kit with tornaquet, pressure bandages and ace bandages, anything to control bleeding

12. A cell phone to call 911 in case a real bad mishap happens like a touron sticks there hand in a sharks mouth, it has happened.

A good shark fisherman takes the sharks well being as his top priority, the faster it gets in the water the better it's chances of living to be caught again. Good fishing to all.

[Shark Hunter]

You nailed that William! I even have blood clot if something really bad happens. That's what I tell everybody. They don't realize how much prep work it is to Shark Fish. When I release a Shark, There is usually always spectators. I love it When they say, I guess this isn't your first shark. I replied last Sept. actually it was!
I need a picture of your dehooker. Mine is heavy Duty Stainless, but I would like a longer one. Do you just heat the rebar and bend it?

[saltydog]

Were getting ready to make a few next month I will post some pics when we do. The last one walked off this year and I still haven't figured out where.

Being prepared is the way you are successful at keeping them alive and you and everyone around you safe and enjoying the day, nothing ruins your day like a trip to the hospital. IT"S ALL ABOUT THE FUN.

[Keta]

.  What is the longest dehooker that you know of?  

Mine is 6' long and like the one in Tightline's post.


http://dehooker4arc.com/store/product.cfm/mode/details/id/409/arc-6-pole-big-game-dehooker-perfect-for-billfish





If you have any ideas I can build it.

[Shark Hunter]

For getting out Circle hooks lee. The ones the Sharkers use has an S at the end to twist them out of the jawbone.

[Keta]

For getting out Circle hooks lee. The ones the Sharkers use has an S at the end to twist them out of the jawbone.

Got a photo and a length?

[Shark Hunter]

Here it is in action

I found this pic online

This thing is heavy duty, I bought it from leadertec. They don't sell it anymore. I need one just like, but about 3 foot long. It had no problem popping out a 20/0 mustad circle buried in this Sharks jawbone. I will take a better picture of mine when I get off work and take some measurements.

[floating doc]

Good discussion. I had to look at the hook remover on my computer. When I saw it on my phone I couldn't tell the pectoral fin wasn't part of the tool.

[saltydog]

If you are having a real hard time removing the circle pull it all the way through and cut the tip off, then the hook just comes right out.