A Primer:

Fly-fishing for SoCal Offshore Sharks

Courtesy Bowman Bluewater

Mako and blue sharks represent a BTB angler's best shot at tackling a fish over 50 pounds on fly gear. In this Shark fishing primer, we talk about how to get started, plus a little more...

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Introduction

Basic Concepts - Part I

Basic Concepts - Part II

Gearing Up

The 3 Cs

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Courtesy Bowman Bluewater

In Southern California, shark fishing offers the best chance for fly-fishermen to catch a fish over 50 pounds. Shortfin mako and blue sharks are the usual targets, and there are plenty of both in the Southern California Bight.

While makos over 900lbs and blue sharks over 10 feet long have been caught on conventional gear in this region, there are lots of fish under 6 feet in length – ideal targets for the long rod.

In this article, we’re going to focus only on mako and blue shark fly-fishing. There are several other species of sharks that you might encounter beyond the breakwater, but as we’ll discuss at the end of this article, they are currently not major targets for BTB fly-fishermen.

The Quickest Way to Learn How to Catch a Shark on a Fly Rod is…

Take a trip or two with a good shark fly-fishing guide! Even if you already own a boat, a good guide:

• Knows where the fish are
  
  
• Has the right gear
  
  
• Knows what to do to attract the fish and get them to bite
  
  
• Can coach you on casting and presentation
  
  
• Will handle unhooking the fish

You can learn all these things on your own, but a good guide will help you shortcut the process. Plus, you always learn some cool tricks.

There are a number of outfits that can lead you to sharks on fly gear, especially in the San Diego area. (Check out our Guides pages for a comprehensive list of area fly-fishing guides.) Of the people listed, Bowman Bluewater Guides & Outfitters, and On the Fly Fishing Charters are probably the best-known shark fly-fishing operations in Southern California.

Capt. Dave
Trimble

Capt. Conway
Bowman

Capt. Conway Bowman, owner of Bowman Bluewater, has been guiding fly-fishermen for sharks since 1994. He’s been featured in numerous articles in the national press, and has also hosted and guest-starred on several TV shows. Conway and Capt. John Hendrickson run the majority of shark trips for BBGO, and have built a reputation for consistently putting clients on fish.

Capt. Dave Trimble, owner of On the Fly Fishing Charters, started his shark fly-fishing career in 2002, working as second skipper for Conway at Bowman Bluewater. In 2008, he struck out on his own with On the Fly Fishing Charters. Dave averages over 300 mako releases a year, guided the first place team at the 2009 Flying Mako Tournament, and lead regular client Brendan Mason to one of the largest fish ever brought to boat-side on fly – a mako estimated at close to 600lbs.

Both Conway and Dave provided valuable information for this article, their input was greatly appreciated!