Last weekend I rented a boat from Smitty?s in Broad Channel and spent the afternoon fishing Jamaica Bay. After a morning of watching baitfish jumping all around my boat, but getting no bites whatsoever, I eventually headed over to the Marine Parkway Bridge and deeper water, hoping to get some blues with the incoming tide.
I set up a fish finder and dropped a large chunk of bunker and waited... I started feeling something very large biting at the bunker, but I just couldn?t set the hook. I put on a fresh chunk and tried again. Boom. I had hooked something big and it was taking line like crazy. I fought it for about half and hour, letting it take a few long runs, hoping to tire it out but it just kept fighting. Hard. At this point, I?m wondering what the hell this thing is... I had figured it was a very big blue or maybe even a striper, but I was starting to wonder. Eventually I got it close to the boat and I was finally about to see what it was. Before I could get a look, it raced off again towards the bottom and got the line wrapped around the anchor line. It stopped moving and I figured the line was snagged on the rope, probably losing the fish. I put the rod down and started pulling up the anchor to clear it. As I?m pulling it up, I am suddenly face to face with a shark! It was still there, tangled up in the line, and trying to struggle free just a couple feet from me. Needless to say, I dropped the anchor like a hot potato. It could have been a dogfish, but this thing was maybe about 4 feet with a thick body, not as thin as the dogfish I?ve seen. I decided to cut the line, I was alone in the boat and I was not about to try to deal with this thing by myself. I sat there for a while, occasionally checking the anchor- but it was still there! Eventually, it worked itself free and it was gone. I have to say I was relieved, but pretty pumped up from such an unexpected catch and a hell of a fight. If only I?d gotten a photo...
Anybody know what kinds of sharks would be in Jamaica Bay??
