Captain Mark works with the California Department of Fish and Game tagging and recording information about each shark. The DFG maintains an office in Long Beach that records the information. It is known that pelagic sharks migrate, but little is known about the migratory patterns. If a tagged shark is caught, the tag number is forwarded to DFG for their data banks for use in ongoing studies.

The blue shark is considered inedible because their urea is excreted through their skin. Most fishermen are unwilling to expend the effort to purge the meat of nitrogen to end up with a flavorless piece of meat that blows up like angel food cake when you cook it. This makes most fishermen eager participants in the tag and release program.

We left port at 7 in the morning and enjoyed a leisurely cruise out to the fishing grounds. The ocean was calm, about a 6 foot swell and 10 knot wind, considering the weather we fishermen have had to endure this spring. About 10 lbs. of chum, assorted fish leftovers from the previous day's salmon filleting, were loaded into a gunnysack, lowered about 5' into the water, and tied off with a stout rope. A salmon carcass, sans filets, rigged on a couple of 10/0 hooks and steel leader, was allowed to slowly sink about 30' as Captain Mark went about preparing another rod.

Before the second rod was rigged, the first rod bent and the rod holder groaned as a blue attempted to run away with the bait. Jeff Miller, from Sonoma, grabbed the pole and hung on as the shark reeled off line. With 6.5 foot fast taper, roller tip rod, rigged with 120 pound test line, the odds of a break-off are minimal. It soon became evident that a fight with one of these devils was an endurance event. When it appeared that Jeff was getting the upper hand, the fish would make another run. Eventually the fish tired and we could see that it wasn't a large one. Finally the fish was close enough to the boat that Capt. Mark could reach it from the dive platform and drag it onto the boat by its tail. We measured and tagged the little blue, 4'-8" long and about 35 pounds, and slid him back into the water through the dive door in the transom.

The shark rod was baited and again put out. We rigged a couple of light rods with anchovies and sent them down 150' hoping to get lucky and entice a salmon. Jeff soon had one on and in the boat. "This is kid's stuff, let me at a BIG shark," he muttered as he threaded another anchovy onto his circle hook.

I was checking the shark bait and noticed a large dark shadow approaching the salmon carcass. The next thing I hear is the rod slamming against the holder as the fish latched onto the bait. I grabbed the rod and set the hook. The fish almost pulled the rod out of my hands. I have never heard a reel scream like this as the blue pulled off line. These fish are fast!!! That is as close to steam coming off the real as I've ever seen. This fish was not a little one, measuring 7'-6" weighing about 120#, and made run after run. About a half an hour later he was worn out enough that we could think about boating and tagging.

Now the wrestling match ensued. Captain Mark grabbed the "tiger by the tail" and drug it onto the boat while the shark coiled around and snapped at his hand. The blue is an flexible fish that is capable of touching its tail with its nose. This one had an exceptionally bad attitude and, once we had him on the boat, attempted to bite anything that moved. The fish had twisted itself in the line and was wrapped three times. It took all of us to subdue the fish, untangle, measure, and tag the monster. It snapped at Captain Mark as it was slid back out the transom dive door. Unfortunately we were unable to get a picture of the monster. We were fully occupied with the business at hand.

After an uneventful hour we started rigging for trolling. Three rods with 200# test were rigged with sliding 10/0 hooks and were baited with large mackerel and towed behind at a quick 7 knot clip. We did not find any threshers, but we did cross paths with numerous sea lions. They would check our bait and when they determined we weren't salmon fishing, would break off the chase. They are smarter than you think.

If we had stayed in place fishing for blues, we would have probably caught 6 fish. This was very early in the season and by June the average day will produce about 10 fish. If you have never fished large shark before, DO NOT TRY THIS without someone who knows what they are doing and can show you the ropes. These fish can be dangerous if not properly handled.

I was impressed by the speed of the blue, and have never seen line come off the reel so fast. If you are in search of a one on one fight with a large and powerful fish, close to home, I can highly recommend the action and excitement of fishing for blue shark off the California Coast. Captain Mark can be contacted at SunTan Charters.