shark fishing in Florida

[farmer56]

farmer56 here ...  my oldest son and 8  year old want to take me along with them Jan. 14th - 15th. he lives in Sioux falls SD .Allegiant air has dirt cheap tickets then to St.Petersburg Fl.   target fish what my grandson wants is to catch a shark. he is able to ride in car all day , fish in boat all day with a smile and how can i help ... size of fish doesn't matter . question will we need to drive farther south to get to warmer water ? will go on a charter boat for 4 to 6 hrs. depends on cost .  then fly home . also does any body know what type of shark could be around or is this a truly dumb idea .  dennis out  thanks

[nelz]

There's sharks all over the FL coast. Blacktips, spinners, bulls, lemmons and hammerheads mostly, but I've seen tigers too and others as well. Book a trip to fish a reef for other fish, and you'll have a hard time avoiding the dang sharks. 

[JasonGotaProblem]

You don't need a charter to target sharks. You just need to go to a beach anywhere in the state and get a hunk of bloody meat 1-200 yds from shore. Either by casting far, walking out half way and casting kinda far, or paddling it out on kayak or surf board. You want a reel with at least 300yds of line, and 15-20# of usable drag.

We see bull sharks, spinners, black tips, hammerheads and bonnet heads.

[Breadfan]

Yea, they are everywhere in Florida. I grew tired of catching them (and giant stingrays) quickly. One very good place to go on a budget is the Sunshine Skyway pier. It used to be the old bridge that fell back in 1980 and now it is a state park. Admission covers your fishing license so that makes it even more economical. You can also drive on the pier all the way to the end. There are actually two piers, one on the north side of Tampa Bay and one on the south side and they go damn near till the middle of the bay. I'm sure other locals will chime in that know more. I grew up there but live in Jacksonville now but the wife and I have been getting to St.Pete 3 or 4 times a year now and we are slowly figuring it out.

https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/skyway-fishing-pier-state-park

https://salty101.com/floridas-best-fishing-spots-sunshine-skyway-fishing-pier/

https://saltyscales.com/blogs/articles/skyway-fishing-pier

[farmer56]

Some more details, we are renting a 19' boat on Jan 14th in Goodland which is just south of Marco Island and will be fishing in the 10,000 islands area.  The plan is to bring casting rods and will have steel circle hooks, weights, and steel leaders.  The marina should have live shrimp for bait.

Would welcome any advice on structure, depth, or other details to help us find sharks or other fish that we should be targeting.

[nelz]

You're using shrimp for sharks?

[Benni3]

Ok finding a good captain or guide is harder than catching a fish,,,, a good captain can get you a shark in 30mins and can put you on other fishing like snook,,,grouper,,,,, mahi mahi or sailfish in 4hrs,,,,,

[jurelometer]

My apologies if you already know this, but in case you are new to handling sharks, it is easy to get surprised at how flexible a shark is with its cartilaginous skeleton.  You can be holding on a fin, or even the tail, and the shark can bend around and bite you.  It is worth reading up a bit on handling and releasing circle hooked sharks, especially the larger ones.  Not as easy as handling other types of fish.

Not a Florida guy myself, but it looks like Florida has some uncommon regulations for sharks, including some recent changes for a training class for shore based, and non stainless circle hooks:

https://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/sharks

-J

[JasonGotaProblem]

Yeah florida has different circle hook regs by region. Especially on the east coast. Do yourself a favor and research it before the generally friendly game wardens have a reason to become unfriendly.

[handi2]

I would catch the small black fin sharks on live shrimp and minnows fishing off my dock.

I would land the shark in a landing net keeping it in the net as I slice open the belly to get the pee out! I hit it hard with the water hose

[nelz]

Oh yes, good catch on the shark handling there Mr. J. That could have turned out painfully! 

[Shellbelly]

Yep, they can be pretty sneaky.  There's no mercy in a shark bite.

I slice open the belly to get the pee out!

When the limits were more generous, I would target sharks. I'd keep black tip, throw back the rest.  I was taught to cut the tail off and bleed them out, then gut them before putting them on ice.  If you don't, you probably won't enjoy that funky after-taste.

We really liked black tip.  Very versatile fish to cook.  The kids always loved fried shark nuggets. 

[Brewcrafter]

Frankly, I no longer keep sharks out here on the left coast, but when I did; does thresher exist back there?  They are considered a good edible species out here, as well as Mako.  Fun catches (Mako can be pretty acrobatic) but they are enough of a pressured class of fish I just let them go, and while edible they are so many other easily catchable species that taste better (for me) that it's no big deal to let a thresher or mako go.  Hope that you and your son/grandson have a good time; that is what is most important. - john

[handi2]

I ate shark a lot.

If you keep bacon grease (I haven't in years) just fry the Amberjack fillets in that grease. It's 😊

[farmer56]

Thanks for all of the advice, good call on being extra safe when handling sharks.  We will be fishing from a boat and will use the non-stainless correct circle hooks.  As for shrimp that is what the marina has on hand, somewhere else we read to get fresh smelly, oily cut up fish.

Any thoughts on other fish we can catch?  The plan is to be casting from the boat into the shallows. Would trolling out the back be productive too.  If we troll should we use spoons???

thanks again, will try to post some pictures when we get back.