For years we’ve encountered the odd shark during our fishing exploits off Holyhead, bitten fish, snapped lines etc. This year we decided to bite the bullet and invest in new gear, fact finding trips, so much reading and then finally set out to target sharks.
This week has been planned for a long time & foul weather was all set to scupper our chances, but a break in the winds saw us set sail early doors today, 50lb class gear, custom made wire shark traces and enough rubby dubby to sink a smaller boat!
Baits in the water and floats set, we had a couple dropped hooks and false calls with small tope before one rod twitched around 4hrs into our day. Quickly line started to scream from the reel and after a few mins it was clear this was something, it was no tope. After so long in the planning, a 90 minute epic battle was soon underway.
So many darting runs, remaining under the boat, around the boat and up the bow on 4 separate occasions. Make no mistake, this shark was in charge. When it first broke the surface the screams and gasps were loud, we had managed to hook a porbeagle shark, and a bloody big one too.
Then it ran again, 4 times we had it to the side of the boat, rubbing trace held twice, but it wasn’t ready to meet us. On the fourth occasion, we were preparing to land, and the most devastating noise was heard … snap … oops, the rod snapped (stop laughing ), the line broke and the shark swam free. A deathly silence fell upon My Way!
Question, was the mission a success?
Of course it was! So much planning and preparation and then on our first attempt we hooked and technically released, a porbeagle shark that was well in excess of 200lb.