Inshore sharking has a quite a bite

When Brian Fuch's trolled bunker spoon slammed to a stop just inside the Atlantic Beach Reef a week ago Monday, the crew aboard Marty Feuer's 55-foot Viking, Fever, at first thought they were stuck on bottom. They stopped the boat, cleared the other rods, and then began to back down methodically toward the snag. That's when the huge thresher shark at the end of the line started jumping!

Two-and- half hours later, the 350-pound thresher -- hooked in the tail -- had jumped six times and then fallen to a basic Penn 4/0H.

"We were targeting stripers when that big shark smashed the spoon," explained Jesse Rosner, who like everyone else on board is a member of the Atlantic Beach Rod and Gun Club. "We were shocked."

Many other South Shore anglers have had similar feelings of surprise recently as a solid run of thresher sharks has set upon the bunker schools that parallel the beach.

"I'd call it unprecedented!" said Glenn Keller at Bay Park Fishing Station. Most years we get a few reports of threshers caught near the beach, but those are usually chance encounters. This year, anglers fishing from Breezy Point to Fire Island Inlet are catching them on purpose in just 30 to 40 feet of water.

According to Keller, those targeting the threshers are using the same basic approach as ocean-going striper fans in the area. That is to say they are setting up near bunker pods and either live-lining fresh caught bunker or drifting whole dead ones alongside the schools. The sharkers are, however, making three primary adjustments.

First, they are putting plenty of bunker chum over the side. Second, they are using wire-leader shark rigs instead of striper rigs. Third, they are fishing with light-tackle, stand-up gear.

Keller has already weighed two threshers this week exceeding 500 pounds, a 400-pounder, plus many whiptails, as threshers are also known, in the 130- to 350-pound class. The biggest thresher was a massive 530-pounder that fell for a flapping bunker aboard Joe Leggio's Chasing Tail on Independence Day. Hooked in just 40 feet of water off The Rockaways, it was wrestled aboard by angler Dennis Stauch using a lightweight Star Paraflex PGSU59XH stand-up rod and Avet Hx reel.

"It's been something else," continued Keller. "It isn't uncommon for boats to get more than one chance at these sharks per trip. As long as the bunker are around, the sharks should be, too."

It bears noting the big inshore threshers are breeding stock and it wouldn't be a bad thing if most were released to fight again. Unless you've got a sure place to store all that shark meat, consider snapping a photo and letting your trophy go. Many anglers have done so.

Bunker and bass

Bunker are best known for attracting striped bass and that striper fishing has surpassed expectations. Many stripers lurking beneath the bunker pods are in the 25- to 40-pound class, especially around Debs Inlet.

To find a decent percentage of keeper fluke, you would do better to run out past the sharks to probe the 50- to 60-foot depths. That action has been improving to the west of Breezy Point inside the Cholera Banks, and east of Shinnecock Inlet.

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