I tossed a line out with a chunk of six-day-old-tuna. Five minutes later, I had a four-foot blacktip shark on the line. It moved deliberately and cut the line on what I believe was the boat’s prop. I had been using the spinning rod. I moved to the open reel and put on a heave steel leader before trying again. Within a couple of minutes I had another strike … not a shark, it seemed like some sort of large reef fish, but the hook did not set. I went to look for my gaff and could not find it. I fear I left it on the deck when I caught the tuna and it got washed overboard. Since it was dark, I might not even noticed. I put a stronger steel leader on the line and just 20 minutes after starting, I had my second four-foot blacktip shark on the line. I fought it about 10 minutes and had it by the side of the boat when it bit clean through the steel leader. I fabricated a leader out of stainless steel wire and tried one last time. Within a minute there was a strike. By the time I got it to the surface, it was just a head. I had caught a good-sized reef fish, some sort of bass, but the sharks had made short work of it. By now the sharks were in a frenzy. I threw what was left of my fish in the water and they caught over it, some leaping out of the water. It was time to call it a day. I’ll try tomorrow when things settle down.
