Carrabelle AJs and bull sharks, 5-25

[Wil]

(Cross posted from Spearboard.com, in case any of the references sound out of place)

We ran out of Carrabelle for a quick "after work" trip on Tuesday. We stopped off at O tower first, to try for some snapper. A couple of weeks ago it was covered in huge mangroves. Not this time though. We then headed on over to the Yamaha to kill a few AJs.

The AJs were hanging out a bit deeper than usual, but we were able to kill a 38" AJ freediving. Since it was getting late in the day, we decided to cheat, so we put our tanks on and went on down. Spotted a few big gags, but they slipped back up in the barge before we could get any of them. We decided to circle the barge looking for more of them, and when we came around the north end there was another big school of AJs. I picked off a nice 37" and put him on the stringer. There was a lot of blood, and I jokingly thought to myself, "Hope this doesn't bring in the sharks." (Two big bulls ran me off the Yamaha on Sunday when I was freediving it.)

About 30 seconds later, a nice big bull shows up, and within 30 seconds another one was on the other side of us. They started circling and dodging in and out, coming as close in as 5-10 feet of us. My dive buddy and I decided to start a slow ascent, backs to each other. As we did, more bulls started showing up. Given that we had overlapping fields of view, we're not sure of the total shark count, but it was at least 9 of the rascals, all 7-8 ft or better.

We were paying too much attention to the sharks and not enough to the location of the boat (vis sucked anyway), and ended up surfacing about 100 yards behind the boat. After a nice surface swim, against the current, prodding the sharks off with the spear gun (they were getting way too close for comfort at that point), we made it back to the boat. We decided to call it a day, with two AJs and a 12" mangrove (he "ran interference" for a 30" gag, I wouldn't have shot him on purpose). If it hadn't been for the sharks, we could have had our limit of 4 AJs easily, plus a few big gags.

I can't find his post to link to it, but a big thanks goes out to Spear One (I think it was him, can't find the post, so not entirely sure) for his informative post about how to deal with sharks. It really did help to take an aggressive posture towards them and prod them with the spear gun. It probably would have worked a lot better if there'd been fewer sharks to deal with. I also made sure not to drop my stringer, even though they made it pretty clear that it was the AJ they were interested in. This was my first real encounter with aggressive(ish) sharks, and the instructions also helped provide me with a level of confidence, in that I was not totally unprepared for it. I think I'll be ordering a few of Ray's powerheads now.


Here's a pic of Sean and Jon bringing back the AJ they killed freediving:



Myself, Sean, and Jon with our catch (photo credit goes to our buddy Tom who volunteered to be designated bubble watcher):

[GC]

Good report and nice fish!

Don't think I would've been able to manage a slow ascent with all those sharks around!
Sounds like time to dump the weights, stringer, hold down the inflator button and hope the boat is out of the way!

[Wil]

Good report and nice fish!

Don't think I would've been able to manage a slow ascent with all those sharks around!
Sounds like time to dump the weights, stringer, hold down the inflator button and hope the boat is out of the way!

Roger that on the ESA, but from what I've been told by the pros over on spearboard, dropping the stringer is the worst thing you can do (I know, sounds odd). Their reasoning is sound, though:

1) Sharks are predators. You're either food, or you aren't food. If they're already eating (e.g. the fish you just dropped), now you've triggered a feeding instinct and you're food.

2) Even if you get out of the water while they're still busy with your stringer, then you're still just reinforcing the behavior of hassling divers for fish, making it even more dangerous for the next guy that encounters the shark.l


I can't find the link to it now, but one of the commercial spearfishers recommends taking an aggressive posture towards the shark since, if you're aggressive towards it, you aren't food. I tried it and it works, but it's kinda hard to be aggressive towards several sharks at once. I'm just not that nimble, heh.

[Aucilla]

Man that was interesting! WoW!

I love this board, and you sure have added a new dimension with this great report, photos, and lesson! And tale! I am glad I ventured over here.

By the way, I met your buddy Sean, through FSU's Academic Diving Program, and I understand he is teaching SCUBA now, and that is cool!

I am mainly into fishing and I want to learn spearfishing, and the more I hear about it, as in this story, the more I know that learning is required! It is NOT just good sense and gut instinct. So, if you need a bubble watcher sometime, I'm game!

[Aucilla]

Here's your link, Wil:



http://www.spearboard.com/forum/showthr ... genumber=1

[EddieJoe]

Wil:

You have to do what you think is right regarding the handling of a fish stringer and sharks, but I do not agree with the rationale you have been given. Although I am not actively diving and spearfishing now, I have logged many dives over my lifetime and speared many fish where sharks have been a factor. In fact, I had a somewhat similar experience with a very large bull, where we were spear fishing and two of us held off the shark with spears. However, we did not hold a speared fish. The shark just liked our looks and even came in to bite three times. We also drifted off the boat and had to swim back while looking for the rising shark and the bite. We then had to get in the boat one at a time. I got the short straw and came in second, while the shark came up again under the boat. We cut the anchor line that time to get away as the shark was bigger than the boat (the boat had oars - no motor).

First, sharks use all their senses that can be employed to find food. Due to conditions like water clarity, etc., some of those may work out to be more important than others at a particular moment. Blood (smell) or vibrations (hooked or thrashing fish) get them moving in, and usually sight plays a part for the final hit. If sight is a problem, they can strike from the other information alone, which is why people can get bitten more often in dirty water.

You can keep the fish with you, but as long as you hold it the sharks will follow. Relying on your ability to "fend off" bull sharks is like holding off a pack of lions with spears while you run off with the wounded gazelle. Same deal.

I would give up the fish every time. I doubt that the sharks will be resident at the Yamaha long enough to "learn" this behavior so that avoiding this is valuable. In my experience, you guys are lucky to be in one piece. Bull sharks are one of the most aggressive and dangerous species in the world.

You gotta decide what is right for you, but I would never repeat that behavior.

Luck,

EJ

[Aucilla]

Is this a seasnonal thing? If I want to go spearfishing for grouper or snapper and not have to deal with aggressive sharks, or large sharks at all, the first time out, would it be better to only do so in cooler water?

[GC]

I'm with you nolester!! Bring on the grouper and snapper....not the large sharks.
My instructor.....man is like Cousteu (sp?)...logged over 15000 dives.....said if you don't want to see sharks....don't go spear fishing!
Guess you have to take the good with the skeered to death, get me out of the water now!

[dstockwell]

You could always have a suit that looks like a killer whale. But then that would probably scare everything away.

[GC]

I was thinking a gray wet suit with fins to look like a shark!
If you can't beat'em.....join'em

[Pimpmassa]

I think it has mostly to do with the fact that it was getting late, since sharks feeding times are in the morning and evening. I have been diving/spearfishing many times during the middle of the day, with massive amounts of dead fish, and never saw the first shark. on the other hand, the past 3 times i have had runs ins with sharks (diving or spearfishing) it has been early in the morning or late in the evening. Don't let the sharks discourage you though, more often than not, they will not be around. I will advocate always spearing with a buddy, especially during ascent.

[Wil]

You have to do what you think is right regarding the handling of a fish stringer and sharks, but I do not agree with the rationale you have been given.

There were people in that thread that were both for and against that approach. I found it worked very well on a single shark, but next time I'm going to add a powerhead into the equation.

If sight is a problem, they can strike from the other information alone, which is why people can get bitten more often in dirty water.

Yeah, I think it was a combination of the dirty water, and the fact that it was getting near dinner time for the sharks (as Sean (Pimpmassa) pointed out).

Bull sharks are one of the most aggressive and dangerous species in the world.
You gotta decide what is right for you, but I would never repeat that behavior.

I still wont be dropping my stringer, but next time there will be a powerhead and then an immediate ascent.


Wil

[Aucilla]

I had a buddy, BostonRedfish, post a query in another forum asking, in March, "has anybody seen any sharks yet this year?" in this area. He suggested he was asking because if they were here "yet" that he was going to discontinue his spearfishing or at least carrying any stringer until they weren't here. Elsewhere, I have heard references to not spearfishing in the summer. That's why I asked the "seasonal" question. Are there a lot fewer sharks, or less aggressive species, here in the winter?

[Wil]

Are there a lot fewer sharks, or less aggressive species, here in the winter?

I don't know. I think that'll bear asking over on spearboard.