Shark Fishing

This is the first in a series of five articles about shark fishing written by local shark angler Rupert Drury who landed the first ever Shark caught at Whitby. These articles will give an insight into how to successfully target sharks off the north east coast of England. Although Rupert specifically talks about the north east in his articles the information you will find here could easily be transferred to any part of the UK coastline where sharks may frequent. This, Rupert’s first article gives a brief insight into north east shark fishing. The second article looks at the tackle you will need to go shark fishing at Whitby or from other ports on the north east coast. The next article will discuss how to organise a sharking trip and what baits etc you might need. The fourth in this series of shark fishing articles will look at techniques used and give some information on where sharks could possibly be located off the north east coast. Rupert’s final article will look at what could be possible in the future. With a thresher shark recently being landed by commercial fishermen at Filey the potential for catching huge sharks off our coastline is there. Please select the other Shark Fishing articles from the menu to your right or from the links at the bottom of this page.

Shark Fishing In The North East Of England

There’s something incredibly exciting about fishing for something that grows seriously big! A fish that could all but pull you off your feet.  Add a sense of danger, a touch of the unknown and rows of very sharp teeth and you have a flavour of what shark fishing in the North East might taste like! Unfortunately, the recipe for sharking success is far from straightforward. Those interested might buy the very best of ingredients, combine a large amount of effort with a good chunk of time, but without a fair measure of luck, this sharking experience can still leave you feeling very empty. Only the very keenest retain the hunger to persevere.  So before you embark on a North East shark mission, it’s important to take a reality check first. The chances are it will take a good few trips before you even see a shark, let alone hook or catch one, but trust me, once you’ve caught one, you’ll be able to think of nothing else for weeks.  Brace yourself now, as this game can simultaneously mess up both your head and your wallet big time!

Before I go into detail on tackle and tactics, let me make it quite clear that I don’t consider that I’m a sharking expert – so I was quite flattered to be asked by Glenn to help with this part of the website.  Granted, I was very fortunate to land the first shark from Whitby in August 2005 (and at my first attempt!), since which time I have witnessed other sharks caught by John, my sharking partner in crime. I’ve also missed hook ups and so although I can tell you how I go about it and my thought processes, let me say here and now, that recreational sharking in the North Sea remains very much unchartered territory and I, as much as anyone else, have plenty more to learn yet.  The exiting thing is, using the tackle and techniques I’ll be covering, there is no doubt in my mind that there are many more surprises for us all to experience out there in the North Sea.

This element of the unknown leads me neatly onto why, when I go on a North Sea sharking mission, I try to go prepared. Certainly, I would rather be over-gunned than under-gunned on the tackle front.  The first porbeagle I caught in 2005 ripped nearly 300 yards of line off in it’s initial run.  That fish very nearly spooled me and it wasn’t as if I wasn’t trying to stop it.  It was like being fastened to the back of runaway Landrover!!   Granted, the fights from the other porbeagle I have witnessed have been completely different and frankly rather disappointing, but until we are in a position to better gauge the typical stamp of shark we are likely to encounter, I would strongly advise you only to use tackle that’s right up to the task in hand.   When opportunities to hook up with a shark appear few and far between, wasted opportunities through tackle failure will do you, nor the shark, any favours at all.

To read More Please Click The Links Below

Article 1 – North East Shark Fishing

Article 2 – Shark Fishing Tackle

Article 3 – Organisation And Shark Fishing Bait.

Article 4 – Shark Fishing Techniques

Article 5 – The Future Of Shark Fishing