The sharks are a
very ancient group of fish, characterized by cartilaginous skeletons,
skins covered in tiny, thornlike scales called placoid scales, five to
seven gill slits, and powerful jaws equipped with rows of strong, sharp
teeth. There are about 300 species, distributed widely throughout the
world's seas but particularly in tropical waters, and although most are
marine some enter estuaries, rivers, and creeks. They range in size from
about 60 cm (2 ft) in length up to at least 18 m (60 ft); those found in
Malaysian water are among the smaller species, up to 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in)
long. The second group here are representative of the larger
species, and range in length from just under 4 m (13 ft) up to about 9 m
(30 ft) or more. Some are too big to be fished such as basking shark and
whale shark, huge but generally placid sharks that feed mainly on
plankton. The basking shark is the largest shark in temperate waters,
possibly growing to 13.7 m (45 ft) and 20,000 kg (44,000 lb); the whale
shark, found in tropical seas, is the world's largest fish and may
exceed 15.2 m (50 ft) and 35,000 kg (77,000 lb). These largest verified
specimens of these two sharks were a 12.27 m (40 ft 3 in) basking shark
and 12.65 m (41 ft 6 in) whale shark. Some sharks like white shark and
blue shark prefer to fish human instead of being fished. But here we
hardly see these type of shark, so you are quite safe here. They are
including thresher shark, shortfin mako, sixgill shark, tiger shark,
smooth hammerhead, blue shark and white shark. |
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When shore fishing for shark,
try a 3.4 to 3.7 m (11 to 12 ft) rod with a multiplier reel, 8.2 kg (18
lb) mono line with a wire leader, a 113 to 170 g (4 to 6 oz) weight, and
hook sizes 4/0 to 6/0, or a medium to heavy saltwater fly outfit with a
30 cm (12 in) wire trace at the end of the tippet, and flies tied on 5/0
or 6/0 hooks. For trolling and drift fishing, the tackle depends on the
size of the shark you expect to catch. For example, a 9.1 kg (20 lb)
class outfit should suffice for small species such as spurdog, but for
larger fish such as porbeagle and mako require 22.7 to 36.3 kg (50 to 80
lb) class tackle. |
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The shortfin mako, also
known as the mako or bonito shark, is probably the fastest-swimming
shark, capable of speed bursts of up to 74 km/h (46 mph). Its maximum
size is about 3.8 m (12 ft 6 in) and 506 kg (1,115 lb), and it makes
spectacular leaps when hooked.
This beautifully colored (blue shark) and very
streamlined shark is found in nearly all temperate and tropical waters,
but rarely comes within about 24 km (15 miles) of the shore. It is a
fast swimmer, capable of speed bursts of 39.5 km (24 1/4 mph), and
travels great distances: two that were tagged off southwest England were
later caught by anglers off Long Island, New York, about 5,630 km (3,500
miles) away. The blue shark grows to around 3.8 m (12 ft 6 in) and 151
kg (333 lb).
This huge shark (white shark), also known as
the great white shark or man eater, has been known to attack
swimmers, skindivers, and even boats, woooooppppssss!!!, but has itself
been so merciless hunted that it is becoming endangered. It is primarily
a fish of the deep ocean, but it sometimes enters shallow water in
search of food such as seals, or even human. It also eats fish,
shellfish, turtles, and seabirds, and averages 4.3 m (14 ft) but may
reach over 11 m (36 ft). The largest fish ever caught by an angler was a
1,208 kg (2,644 lb) white shark, taken by Alf Dean at Denial Bay, South
Australia in 1959, but my advise to you, if you sea this creature, run
away, or hooked on your line, just cut the line unless you are properly
equipped.
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