Corpusfishing.com

[snakecan2]

I love shark meat to cook on the grill. think that is the only way I have evey had it.
I havent kept a shark in over 10 years.. and that was a under 4 ft black tip. Come to think of it, that is the only one I have kept as adult, most meat has been given to me.
I remember as a kid back in the early 70's even in the 80's when we would go to bob hall pier and go shark hunting.. do not remember what family and friends would keep, but remember stories and pic's of every type of shark.. and we would be eating plenty of shark, but also remember that if freezer is full, they would be release unharmed.

Since times have changed and being more educated and eco friendly for what we fish and have witnessed of the destruction of the balance of the eco system in the ocean. It does bother me when people take something only to let it go to waste, Or take everthing they can because the catch is on, then again it goes to waste.

Do not get me wrong I am not one to bash someones great catch, especially not knowing there situation. I feel that everyone on this site is great. either they eat their catch or CPR fishing.

My questions are:
What would be eco acceptable to keep sharks...(granted most might be opions) and please lets not get nasty with others opions
Species, sizes time of year due to breeding etc..
and the pro's and con's to the above..

Again lets not get nasty, just trying to get some education and info on the subject.

I know that some have very stong feelings on keeping some of these record fish or do a lot of CPR fishing. Maybe I and others can get a little more educated on this topic, at least more than just my opinion.
Just like with hunting, I have been yelled at, cursed at, flicked off you name it, had cops and TPWD called out. And why, becuase the other person didnt know that we had TPWD game management permits to pull off more deer from the land due to over population and after regular hunting season ends.
_________________
Fish and Hunt Baby.... so tight lines and clear scopes.

[Mad Dog]

In the spirit of the question and knowing very little about species, migration, or reproduction I would suggest that the first step is to make sure the fish can be released in good condition. So, what are the tools and tactics to make a viable release? Do we promote circle hooks? Is there leader material that helps? etc.

So whatever we catch we can make a decision on harvest or release.

MD
_________________
Ego piscor, ergo sum

http://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w150/cstockton/Aquasport/

[snakecan2]

Circle hooks is all I use pretty much.. still have some of the others, but only buy and use the circle hooks. so much easier to remove, and for the fish that do swallow the hook so easy to remove or just cut the line and revieve..
And as for the Harvesting.. The Mrs and her Dad are hunt masters for the TPWD Youth Hunt program and I am more involved with Operation Orphans.. so we now use the term "Harvesting of an animal" funny how the terms change over the years..

Ran into a couple of guys a 2 years ago that were shark fishing for the first time and brought in a 5" black tip, they had no idea how to remove the circle hook and properly releas the fish back.. But that was fun helping them out and successfully releasing the shark.
_________________
Fish and Hunt Baby.... so tight lines and clear scopes.

[landlocked beachbum]

I love to fish but there is an end to the means: I LOVE eating fish!!! To that end, I'll keep what I can use [no matter what species] if it's one that I like, but I also would tend to be pretty picky on size. I don't think that I would keep an oversize red or black drum [etc] just because the smaller one are much better table fair. Don't know about sharks though. I've had some that were darn good [blacktip] and some that were pretty strong tasting and coarse textured.
_________________
Dave


"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits". Albert Einstein

[Rebecca of Sunnybrookfarm]

a three foot MALE blacktip, if you just had to keep a shark. stingray is an option that doesn't taste too bad either if you prepare it.
_________________

[Sherkus]

With all "slot" limits I have encountered, the releasing of larger fish promotes a stronger brood of little fish. Maybe raising the limit on Sharks, from 24 inches to 30 (Even tiny sharks measure 24 inches with their giant tail) Then set an outside limit to 75 or 80 inches.

A doctor recently warned me of high Mercury levels in larger sharks, as well as all large gamefish.

I love to eat certain species of shark, Blacktip, Blue, Bull. (all B's)

I ALWAYS release other sandbar, hammerhead, bonnet head, nurse stingray etc.

My freezer currently contains one 4ft Bull shark, so I will release the next ones I catch, until I fry that up.

Great Topic !
_________________
I wouldn't take Tuesday off if you will show me a fish that bites on weekends!

[steven]

Looked at the Port A Now webcam and saw the fishboard had several medium sized sharks . Mostly 3' to 4' range. I guess these guys figure since they paid for it they're going to keep it. I'm not much of an offshore fisherman but I have seen a lot of people leave the docks with sharks and you could tell they had absolutely no idea what to do with them once the picture was taken.
As for myself I love releasing a shark back into the surf. Sure keeps the swimmers away from my lines.

[topdog15]

I like the idea of a max. limit on sharks . IMO, pushing the minimum slot up a few inches wouldn't really do much for the population as a whole.

Sharks are some of slowest animals on the planet to reach sexual maturity. For instance, bull sharks in the GOM grow at a rate of six to eight inches for the first five years. Then four inches a year for the next four years. At this point our bull shark is around four and half feet long and nine years old. The kicker is growth slows down drastically over the next five years to 2.5 inches a year and then slows down more to about an inch and a half for the remainder of the animal's life.
Male bulls mature at around seven feet (or 14-15 years). Females mature at seven and half feet which takes up to eighteen years.
So, as long as the current limit of one per person stays the same, raising the lower slot a few inches more won't make much difference.
This does, however, make a great argument for your upper slot idea. If sharks approaching sexual maturity were made off limits to anglers we could possibly see an increase in shark numbers.
Cool thread.
Aaron
_________________
"Ya'll must eat a lot of fish"

[snakecan2]

yeah.. it does bother me when i see some of theese boats get into a mess of spinner sharks and they all look like little babies.. exagerating of course but each one looks like only a meal for me and maybe my dog..

kind of why i put up the post.. trying to get some more info on them.. never was sure on life span and breeding, etc on the the sharks..

thanks for the input.. now time for me to go catch the big one and try to fit it in the freezer before anyone notices..

ok just kidding..

tight lines, and yup.. heading back out down to the coast just when this front is to hit.. well.. some one has to fish in the wind.. you all live down there and love to fish when it is pretty outside, i ...well, when the mrs gives me a fish pass, I take it.. and this time i do not have to take her..got to love her..
hope to see some of you out there.
_________________
Fish and Hunt Baby.... so tight lines and clear scopes.

[rabbit]

I think the minnimum size on black tips is 36 inches.
_________________
Fishing and Kayaking its a rough life but somebody has to do it.

[Bluffer]

24in.
_________________
-STAY THIRSTY MY FRIENDS!-

[topdog15]

Another interesting point to look at...............it takes a female bull shark up to eighteen years to become sexually mature at which time she will make up to 13 "pup" sharks. That's it, 13. Now if you take out the sexually mature sharks you can see how easily populations can be decimated. They are so long to develop and then produce so few young (in fish terms) that the removal of the brood stock can cause a crash in shark numbers.
_________________
"Ya'll must eat a lot of fish"

[captfrankie]

I personally haven't kept a shark to eat in years.My opinion on species would be Blacktip from 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 ft.Preferably a male.The amount of meat justifies the kill.Leaves the bigger fish a chance to breed.
_________________
Life is Good

[Hog Tide]

Just curious as to why the 3 1/2 Male Blacktip is the preferred species. I've eaten shark before and my family loves it, but I haven't fed them enough variety to really sway my opinion one way or the other on species. Mostly lemon and bull sharks have found their way to my table. But I generally don't target sharks anyway so if one decides it wants a boat ride I usually oblige it.

[topdog15]