We dedicate a lot of time and energy, both on and off the water to researching and patterning our target species and planning our expeditions, but no species in our landbased game fishing journey has taken as much effort, or eluded us as long as the pelagic Blue Shark (Prionace glauca).
Our endeavors to catch one of these true open ocean sharks while shore fishing have spanned nearly a decade, spanned the continent, involved two oceans, several offshore islands, and time and again have come up empty. Everyone we talked to, interviewed, involved and fished with had all but told us, it was improbable, if not impossible.
Well impossible odds are our specialty here at Terra Firma Tackle so when we got word of several being caught far offshore in SoCal our skiff fishing friends (Thanks Chris and Tom and Dale!) we cut another expedition short by ten days, rebooked our flights, put together a last second team and shot a 3-day weather gap to one of our local spots we knew had promise.
Mid-morning on day two we got the bite, connected, and when we saw the slender, vibrant Blue Shark hit the beach, elation ensued. Many years, thousands on thousands of miles, and countless hours had finally come to fruition, and at home, on our local beach, where we always knew we could do it if we had the chance!
We owe tremendous thanks to our supporters, teammates, including Alex who dropped everything to be our second body, and to all the people that shared their intel with us to give us this chance. Massive thanks to Sandbar Tackle LLC. and Tight Line Braid for the hooks and line we trust when our Holy Grail is at stake!
Who knows when the next opportunity might arise for a shot at these animals from shore, and it may well become the new normal, but we are inexplicably thrilled to have put this one on the #beach for a new landbased shark fishing first in California!
#dontletthemcatchyouslipping
