Sanibel Island blacktips

[BenCantrell]

The hunt for a bull shark continues!

We drove over to Sanibel Island on the gulf side of FL to fish with some friends down for vacation. They bought a cheap sit-on-top kayak to paddle baits out, which was a new experience for me. The surf was nonexistent, so taking baits out was a breeze.



On light tackle we got gulf whiting (tons), silver perch (a few), and spotted seatrout (one). We saved the larger size whiting for bait. I also brought jack crevalle and guaguanche that we caught in January in Sebastian.

First shark bit on a jack. Marc's wife reeled in a nice blacktip.



Marc's dad pulled in the second blacktip. I took a bait out, and when I got back to shore line was already coming off my reel. The hook pulled when I tightened down the drag. It was annoying to do a full reset with the kayak, but I had to check to make sure the whiting was still on the hook. Not long after the reset I caught my first blacktip.



Ally caught the next one.



The last one of the night bit on half a guaguanche and put up a good fight. It chomped down on the pliers when we were taking the hook out, and we had to drag it back in the water for a bit until it would let go.



It was decent sized.



The next morning we got out again for a daytime session. The other half of the guaguanche got picked up after a few hours.



This one was more cooperative.



Definitely a photo upgrade for my lifelist album.



We'll get the bull next time.

[Latimeria]

I was just out on Sanibel island a few months ago!  It looked like a beautiful beach to fish!
What great chunky Blacktips!  Man they are thick for the length.

Thanks for the report Ben!  Great stuff!

[Tim524]

Very cool looking sharks  Looks like a fun fight for sure 

[BenCantrell]

I was just out on Sanibel island a few months ago!  It looked like a beautiful beach to fish!
What great chunky Blacktips!  Man they are thick for the length.

Thanks for the report Ben!  Great stuff!

Hope you can come over again someday for a fishing trip!

[vdisney]

Thanks for the east coast post Ben, things on this side have been slowwww

[Chris]

Tippers and sand bars are probably the most fun you could have on cast gear.

Fillet the black tip and use a chunk. Bulls love them and it scares off the other black tips.

[BenCantrell]

Tippers and sand bars are probably the most fun you could have on cast gear.

Fillet the black tip and use a chunk. Bulls love them and it scares off the other black tips.

Oh man, I don't think I could fillet a blacktip. Atlantic sharpnose I could do.

[jrodda]

Blacktips seem like a good size shark to pull on. Muscular as hell, but not so big that you need tie yourself to your truck during the tug of war.