New England shark species

New England Sharks
This site is primarily about the shark species in New England. It also contains other shark information.
Links to the other pages on this site are at the bottom of each page.
If you have questions, suggestions, or shark information, or photos, please e-mail me at: capt.tom@comcast.net
If you are interested in fishing charters for tuna, shark, striped bass, bluefish, cod and haddock go to this page: http://www.newenglandsharks.com/shark1.htm

Updates: August 14, 2010 added a new shark ID to this page http://www.newenglandsharks.com/new_page_8.htm

Report shark sightings at: http://www.masharks.com/Pages/sightings2.html

We took this mako in Mass. Bay, by rod and reel on 50 lb. standup gear.

mako 800.JPG (44057 bytes)

One crew member quit the harness immediately when he saw the size of the mako on the first jump, then Bob took over the rod and reel. In fairness to the novice angler , it was his first saltwater trip and he got terrorized by the height of the somersaulting jumps and the size and speed of the mako. It was a violent non stop one hour battle with six sensational jumps, and one run at the boat by the mako. The mako never slowed down during the battle.

The picture was taken by a passing boat attracted to the splashes. Only 35% of that mako is out of the water in the picture.

This mako is in the 800 lb. range. It measured a few inches over ten feet to the fork and 74 inches in girth. (6'2'' girth )

(Another mako weighed 846 lbs, was over 10' long and had a 6'-3" girth. )
(I saw a shorter mako officially weighed in at a tournament, it weighed 784 lbs.)

Yours truly, Capt. Tom in white hat. Capt. Stan Glaskin in black facing you, and angler Bob Glaskin in back center. Other crew members of the "Polar Bear" are friends of Stan's.

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Capt. Jon Perette with a mako we took in Mass. Bay. on October 28 th in 53 deg. water. Brrrr Larger makos can withstand cooler water as this late season mako indicates.

We were flyrodding for blue sharks on a cold flat calm day. We went back to the floating chum cage after leaving it for 45 min. to fight a blue shark that broke off on a light flyrod rig.

When we left the floating chum cage there were 3 other bluesharks there. When we got back they were gone, and we knew something had happened.

As I reached down to secure the chum cage, the mako went flying by my hands. We baited the mako on 50 lb. standup gear, since the fly gear had only an 8 lb. test tippet.

The mako fought at first like a big blue shark, then it stuck its head out of the water looked us over, apparently didn't like what it saw, bolted and went airborne four times during the rest of the fight.

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This Mass. Bay giant bluefin on the left had its lower belly section torn out by this mako. Both the tuna and the mako got wrapped up in my friend's gill net. photos - Capt. Tom Bell
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This is a large male mako in the 460 lb. range. The dock is 8 feet across for reference. Take a look at the dorsal, it is classic mako. A thresher has a similar shaped dorsal. (see photo below) Also note the small second dorsal just ahead of the anal fin on the mako. As fat as the mako was, it was one of the highest jumpers I have seen.

Thresher dorsal Fin.jpg (45006 bytes)

A 624lb male mako. the heaviest know to marine biologists that has been documented by measurement and scale.

We caught this male mako on August 27, 2009, at the SW corner of Stellwagen Bank. It came up and cut a tuna we were fighting in half . (Story in full is on the shortfin mako page, near the page bottom.)

I rarely have my picture taken with any fish; but people insisted.
If you have a picture taken with a fish try not to obscure the fish. Notice I have my hand behind the fish.
Also remove ropes and wash the blood off the fish for a better photo. - tom

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Next in sequence is the Porbeagle Lamna nasus

Below are links to all the pages on the website.
These links will be at the bottom of every page to help you navigate the site.
Scientific names Explains the use of common and scientific names of sharks.	New England Sharks Tells what shark species come into our coastal New England waters.		Species by month Relationship of blue, thresher, mako and porbeagle populations during different months.
Thresher Shark A whole page devoted to the Thresher, Alopias vulpinus.	Blue shark A whole page devoted to the Blue, Prionace glauca.		Lamnidae shark family Gives characteristics of this interesting shark family.
Shortfin Mako A whole page devoted to the shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus. With some info on the longfin mako. Isurus paucus.	Porbeagle A whole page devoted to the Porbeagle, Lamna nasus.		ID sharks at sea Suggestions on how to identify free swimming mako, blue, porbeagle and thresher sharks.,
Shark Tables Shark length /weight tables and some IGFA records.	Sandtiger Sharks Making a come back in Mass. Bay		New England Whites Information on white sharks in New England waters. Info on 3 fatal New England shark attacks.
Mako or porbeagle? How to differentiate these two sharks. Also has a shark Quiz	Sharky Links Links to other shark sites. Books on sharks Recommended reading		Mass. Bay makos Photos, and some additional info on makos.
What is a shark ?? Explains how to identify a shark, and distinguish male and female sharks.		Oak Bluffs Monster Shark Tournament Information	Fishing Charters Whale watching Coastal cruises Out of Scituate Mass. Fishing Massachusetts Bay
Shark fishing gear for the beginner. What you'll need to get started.	Chumming up sharks for viewing or catching. How to do this most important task of attracting sharks.		How to battle that trophy mako. Some tips to keep you from bungling away a trophy mako. Jumping mako video clip at end.
Lets go sharkfishing Gives you an idea of what to expect out there.	Capt. Bill Brown Sharkfishing		Fishing For Porbeagles By Captain Steve James

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