Thresher hunting in Dana Point..

[Kyle]

I was just outside the Dana Point harbor last night working on my boat when I spot 2 guys with floats up near San Juan Rock. I slowly make my way up there to watch them hunt. I was about 150 yards away and I see a float come shooting to the surface! I was freaking out. Over the next 30 mins these two guys used 4 big guns to take down a nice Thresher shark. It ended up weighing 140#. These guys were not the best shooters, they did not get one shot in the head, they basically shot anywhere on this shark and waited until they could knife the spine. I bet one nicely placed shot would have stoned this fish. Anyway, I offered to show them how to harvest all the meat nicely and they gave me about 15# of fresh Thresher.

Hmmm, anyone up for a Thresher hunt?

Kyle

[Griswold]

Let's see,

Spearfishing for sharks at night. Nope, Mrs. Griswold ain't giving me no yard pass for that.

[Peter R.]

:eek: My initial reaction also to hunting sharks at night.
But I've learned in this sport to (almost) never say never. When I started out as a non-spearing freediver, I used to think to myself that spearos are crazy: I would never make a fish bleed and then attatch it to my body and swim around in murky water frequented by Harbor Seals and Sea lions (shark food)! Now what am I itching to do every chance I get? Then I would tell myself that, well, there are no GW's along the So Cal coast, I'll stick close; it's those crazy bluewater hunters that go out off the back side of the islands, that get snagged. Now of course, I've hunted on the backside of Catalina and am itching to go back!

Sounds exciting Kyle! I think I'll live vicariously through you on this one; keep us posted. :)

BTW I guess I should try shark meat. I heard it didn't taste that good cause sharks piss through their skin.

Peter

[VAQUERO]

Not to mention the very high levels of mercury. Not good, makes you sterile.:(

[Kyle]

Sterile. I could only hope.

Kyle

[DaKahuna]

Some sharks don't have a urinary tract/system, so they do pee through their skin. With these sharks I have been told that it is best to leave a couple of inches of meat on the skin, that's where the highest concentration of ammonia is left.

Some sharks do have a urinary tract, I think that threshers are one of those. That's why it's really the only commercially available shark meat on the market. I can't remember which species do vs. don't have urinary tracts. I remember that leopard sharks are in the pee-through-the-skin class though.

Kyle-
Did the hunters you met have any powerheads or other more powerful killing/protection devices with them?

[Stodelle]

I know that Thresher and Mako are good and safe to eat without worrying about the pee problem. Leopards and Blues though do pee through their skin, but a fishing guide told me that if you bleed them out as soon as they get boated, that it will be unable to urinate through its skin. I know my buddy did try this and blue shark tasted fine. I have also tasted poorly prepared shark and it does taste like piss....or at least what I think it would taste like!!!!

[chuam]

As with any shark you must bleed them immediately. Once they die the ammonia will build up which makes it taste bad. Usually the best is to cut the gills and drag it backwards or cut the tail off and also cut the gills. It is really important to do this immediately if you want to eat the shark. Also before cooking you can soak the filet in buttermilk or regular milk for a couple of hours. This will help take away any last ammonia taste that you may find.

Marcus

[IB Boyd]

That milk trick works well on sandbass as well. Really gets rid of any strong fishy taste. Have heard that it helps bonito a lot as well, but havent tried that. I have half thought about getting a good bunge rig and attaching it to the bow of my kayak,and using that to go after a thresher. Threshers dont scare me as much as makos do. :)

[mbhalihunter]

I've heard about the milk trick but never tried it cause i can drink milk. On a recent salmon trip, h&l, my boss told me about bleeding the salmon right after you bring em up, it didnt change taste, but the presentation was much better. Im gonna try on next halibut i spear.

[Erik Sun]

Originally posted by IB Boyd
That milk trick works well on sandbass as well. Really gets rid of any strong fishy taste. Have heard that it helps bonito a lot as well, but havent tried that. I have half thought about getting a good bunge rig and attaching it to the bow of my kayak,and using that to go after a thresher. Threshers dont scare me as much as makos do. :)

hm. that's interesting. bass are one of the least fishy out there.