Of Rainbows and Unicorns: A Grail Quest

[TerraFirmaTackle]

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

[Farmer_Joey]

About time somebody caught one. You should use it for bait

[Latimeria]

Right on Spencer!  Man, you're surf caught shark list is waaay impressive!  I remember back in my early 30's that I wanted to catch a Sevengill from shore and only heard of one guy who would actually target them.  I had a plan for years... and one day Squatch just said... "Lets try your plan and go for a Sevengill"...  I caught and lost one on the first trip and never looked back.  Mostly it was trying and hoping for exotics since we were only casting baits out, but you guys paddling out baits have just opened up an entire new fishery out here.

I'll be putting this on the front page if you don't mind. 

[TerraFirmaTackle]

Right on Spencer!  Man, you're surf caught shark list is waaay impressive!  I remember back in my early 30's that I wanted to catch a Sevengill from shore and only heard of one guy who would actually target them.  I had a plan for years... and one day Squatch just said... "Lets try your plan and go for a Sevengill"...  I caught and lost one on the first trip and never looked back.  Mostly it was trying and hoping for exotics since we were only casting baits out, but you guys paddling out baits have just opened up an entire new fishery out here.

I'll be putting this on the front page if you don't mind. 

Its that drive for the new that keeps me at it honestly, 90% of the fishing for me and my guys happens indoors, and in our heads, brainstorming and researching. The actual execution is such a small part of it. Usually. 😅

Appreciate the front page!

[vdisney]

Chu da Man, many congrats

[jrodda]

Really nice looking specimen too. Can't believe you got makos and sixgills and multiple prickly sharks before a blue.

[Tim524]

 It is BEAUTIFUL

[Chris]

Daaang I got a shout out! Glad my driving aimlessly in circles while pulling a bait paid off for someone. 

Awesome fish and massive accomplishment. Some people look at it as just a blue shark and maybe think it's worthless or nothing to brag about, which may be true when off shore and fishing pelagics, but Spencer has been after this fish for at least the 4 years I've known him and it's such a massive accomplishment from the shore. The stars really have to align and you have to
Be there at the right time and know exactly how to place that bait for something like this to work.

Congrats Spencer! Just a couple weeks and it'll be time to look for that big socal mako.

[Chris]

Really nice looking specimen too. Can't believe you got makos and sixgills and multiple prickly sharks before a blue.

So, we have this guy named Ed.... And he accidentally caught a socal hammer and blue from The surf before any of these techniques were perfected, they were just 3ft long.

[TerraFirmaTackle]

Really nice looking specimen too. Can't believe you got makos and sixgills and multiple prickly sharks before a blue.

So, we have this guy named Ed.... And he accidentally caught a socal hammer and blue from The surf before any of these techniques were perfected, they were just 3ft long.

Thanks man, huge weight off the shoulders with this one. It gets rough when all thats left to chase are impossibles 🤦‍♂️

The accidentally part is what makes me laugh so f@cking hard lol

Yea gotta give ed the surfcasting clout for those little dudes. He reminds me every chance he gets 😅

[Farmer_Joey]

Daaang I got a shout out! Glad my driving aimlessly in circles while pulling a bait paid off for someone. 

Awesome fish and massive accomplishment. Some people look at it as just a blue shark and maybe think it's worthless or nothing to brag about, which may be true when off shore and fishing pelagics, but Spencer has been after this fish for at least the 4 years I've known him and it's such a massive accomplishment from the shore. The stars really have to align and you have to
Be there at the right time and know exactly how to place that bait for something like this to work.

Congrats Spencer! Just a couple weeks and it'll be time to look for that big socal mako.

I doubt anyone would think it's nothing to brag about, the fact that mutiple pricklys, makos and a hammer all happened well before this should speak volumes for how unlikely the odds are for an lbsf blue shark and how much of an accomplishment it is to land one. Great job spencer!