By Paul Lebowitz

Thresher sharks. The biggest of the big game a Southern California kayak angler is likely to face. A mature thresher is as long as a typical fishing kayak, weighing hundreds of pounds. Most novice kayak anglers know to steer clear. Yet sometimes the angler does not choose the quarry. Rather, it chooses you. My own first encounter with a “T,” back when I was a newly minted kayak fisherman, was as unexpected as it was shocking. 

It was late in the morning on a slow but pleasant springtime day. I’d just dropped a greenback mackerel down to the middle depths to soak.

I was leaning back, enjoying the feeling of the warm sun on my face, when my clicker screamed an alarm. Jolted into attention, I grabbed the rod from the holder. Line was paying out faster than I’d ever seen. I jammed the reel into gear. Instantly, the force was incredible. The tip of the cheap fiberglass boat rod I was using, a broomstick if there ever was one, slammed down to the deck. I got in a couple cranks of the reel handle then, as quickly as the rod had loaded up, it straightened and the line went slack.

The water erupted a mere twenty feet from the side of my kayak as a thresher shark rocketed into the air. I found myself in the unbelievable position of looking up from beneath the largest fish I’d ever personally encountered.

At about eight or nine feet long, the shark was still a pup, but I was stunned with amazement. The shark arced gracefully back into the water, and then sounded straight down. Again the rod loaded up, and this time the strain became almost intolerable. I curled my legs around the kayak hull and held on. Just when I felt the tremendous force pulling on the rod tip was about to flip me over into the water, the line mercifully parted.

PHOTO COURTESY JASON MORTON

PHOTO COURTESY JASON MORTON

I was lucky. I could have been pulled off my kayak. The shark might even have landed on me. It all happened so quickly, it never occurred to me in my inexperience that my reel’s drag was still locked down from the morning’s surf launch.

Although I hadn’t gone out looking for a thresher shark, one found me.

Ready or not, one could find you. In springtime, anyone trailing a live bait or trolling a saltwater plug could wind up with a thresher at the end of the line. If it happens, you should know how to react so the experience will be thrilling, but not harrowing or especially dangerous.

To be blunt, thresher sharks pose hazards to kayak anglers, particularly when they are freshly hooked, and when the fight seems to be nearing its end. Speaking of the shark itself, it is not so much the pointy end that can hurt you. Thresher sharks have relatively small mouths. No, it is a smack from the scythe-like tail that poses the main threat. Imagine a large saltwater plug such as a Rapala CD-18 is embedded in that tail, armed with the six sharp points that come with two treble hooks. If that spiked club gets you we’re talking about a real potential for damage. Don’t overlook the less dramatic dangers of capsizing or becoming entangled in your lines. Neither scenario is one I’d like to experience.

Since anyone kayak fishing inshore might potentially hook a thresher, everyone should know how to react if it happens. Big game kayak fishing authority Jeff “Rhyno” Krieger has some good advice.  Krieger advises calm. “First off, relax and let the shark pull you. Pay attention to everything around you, and the angle of the line. Thresher sharks jump a lot,” says Krieger.

At the beginning of a fight from a kayak, a thresher shark will be in almost complete control. Krieger has a firm priority. “The first concern is safety. Make sure your drag is loose. Sharks react differently when hooked from a kayak. Expect erratic changes of direction. When the kayak comes onto plane, they will come back at it,” he warns.

The only sure control a kayak angler has is the amount of line out. Says Krieger, “If the shark is jumping really high, make sure you aren’t underneath it.” Do this by giving line when the shark is close to the kayak. Keep other kayakers and boaters safely away from a fresh shark too.

The opportunity to end the fight without loss or damage will come later, after the dramatic jumps and direction changes. “Once the shark settles into the fight, decide what you want to do,” advises Krieger. “It’s a good time to cut your losses and cut the line. Then you can go back to catching halibut and bass.”

If you want to get your lure back, you have a lot of work ahead of you. “If you go for it, be prepared for a long battle. You should expect to be pulled offshore a mile or four or more,” says Krieger. After an hour or two, if you don’t tire first, the shark will come to leader. Be careful. The shark may not be spent. Attempting to land a shark from a kayak is potentially very hazardous. Beginners should only try it with the assistance and guidance of an experienced kayak thresher hunter.

It is safest to simply release the shark. Don’t try to recover your hook; just cut the line. Kayak fishing guide Jim Sammons of La Jolla Kayak Fishing has a further caution. “If the shark is tail-hooked with a Rapala, and you are alone and have never dealt with a thresher, just let that $9 jig go,” he says. Just cut the line.