Shark Fishing Charters, Trips & Guides - San Diego Mako Sharks, Blues, Threshers & Hammerheads

Guide Trip: Shark

Have you ever caught a 300lb trout.....I think not

Mako-Shark-Fly-Fishing-San-Diego

Welcome to our shark fishing charters – the alpha dog fly fishing. Our mako shark fishing charters are truly one of the biggest baddest trophy shark fishing charter experiences that's out there. Fly fishing for mako sharks in deep offshore waters is some of the most exhilarating fishing our customers have ever experienced.

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Fortunately for us, Mako sharks call San Diego home. And that’s where we’ve learned the best spots to take our shark fishing charters year after year! These apex predators are at the top of the evolutionary ladder when it comes to speed. Depending on your source they’re the third fastest animal in the water; beaten only by wahoo and marlin. Watching Mako sharks in San Diego jump out of the water is always jaw-dropping! They’re capable of jumping 15-20 feet in the air, and the acrobatics of a "fish on" are simply amazing. Our shark fishing guide will try to coax them into a performance. Many times, once they get cartwheeling a Mako will repeatedly jump out of the water 3, 4, 5 times in a row! Maybe even more. These fish are built for speed and swim like a bullet.

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The best shark fishing charters in San Diego typically span the summer months—Mid-May through October— but varies with the water temperatures. All our shark fishing charters are catch-and-release. While mako shark fishing charters in San Diego are a thriving commercial fishery, we strongly encourage only catch-and-release while fishing for this species in this delicate ecosystem.

Rates

Half Day (5 hours)             $650

Full Day (8 Hours)             $900

Extended Day (11 hours)  $1,200

*all trip prices are set for one to three anglers

*$200 Deposit is required to secure your day

What We Provide

-23 foot Parker SE w/ 200 hp Yamaha 4-Stroke engine
-Cooler with plenty of ice and water
-7 to 16 wt gear with floating lines
-Leader, tippet and flies
-Chum to attract the sharks

What You Will Need

-Fishing License
-Lunch or snacks
-Hat and polarized sunglasses (Amber or Brown Lens)
-Light rain jacket and pants
-Clothes for weather from 40 to 100 degrees
-Please no hard-black soled shoes

 Please call ahead of time at 858-500-2761 or email at info@theflystop.com for availability or more information about our shark fishing charters.

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Mako Sharks in San Diego and much more!

Mako Shark Fishing Trip Fly Fishing theflystop.com

The kelp and deep-water trenches immediately off the San Diego coastline offer ideal habitats for various sharks. The most sought-after species of our shark fishing charters are Mako, Blue and Thresher. Even Hammerheads can become part of the mix. Shark fly fishing is widely accessible and we offer shark fishing trips year-round. Thresher fishing best in the Spring, mako shark fly fishing is best in late Spring through the early Fall, and Blues are the most predominant shark in the Winter and Spring months. None of this is an exact science, and many of the species overlap. You always have an off chance of a Mako in the winter for example. At The Fly Stop, we specialize in shark fishing charters, in particular mako shark fishing charters followed by Blues.

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We are extremely fortunate that Mako sharks San Diego are 1 of 3 known rookeries in the world. A rookery is essentially a fancy term for breeding grounds. For this reason, there are a ton of Mako Sharks in San Diego waters in the 40lb to 200lb range. We also see a lot bigger than that on our shark fishing charters, and every year fly fishing for mako sharks hooks absolute beasts up to 1000lb! Our Southern California coastline offers deep-water shelves and canyons offshore that attract trophy sharks and thousands of anglers each year to our small corner of the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

What does this mean for our mako shark fishing charters?  It means for the majority of the year, you have ready access to one of the hardest­-fighting, fastest-swimming, highest-jumping fish species known to man! If that is not enough, mako shark fishing charters are also a visual experience. During our shark fishing charters these magnificent fish are attracted to and caught within feet of the boat. Imagine watching a 300lb shark grab your fly 30 feet away from the boat, and within a few feet of or even directly on the surface. This is quite common on our shark fishing charters – in fact the typical scenario.

On our shark fishing charters, the typical set up uses multiple rods in the 12-16 weight range for Mako Shark fly fishing. Huge beefy (barbless) hooks in sizes up to 10/0 are typical. Several factors and variances go into selecting the proper place to start, but typical shark fishing trips start with checking visibility, water color, tides, and temperature variance to hone in on the exact location to get started. Sharks love to follow structure, and with our vast knowledge of the area, we will gather all the subtleties together and have a game plan drawn up upon your arrival for your shark fishing trip. 

Mako-Shark

One thing to keep in mind is that mako shark fishing charters are not your typical fishing adventure. Once set up at the shark fishing trip’s location for the day, what proceeds can be maddening slow lulls followed by total frenzy and chaos. Typically, once in the area a chum bucket is prepared with various fish parts, and we start a “slick” typical to any shark fishing trip. This, much as hunting, is a waiting game.  We are targeting known environmental structure and travel corridors that Makos travel and hunt through, something our shark fishing guide has perfected as an art form. With their uncanny sensory organs, ideally sharks in the area pick up on that chum scent and work their way to its source – our boat.  Mako shark fly fishing is a waiting game, just like any shark fishing charters for that matter. This is not nonstop casting and action. This is more of implementing a strategy, staying patient and letting things pan out. A typical slick, or drift, for our shark fishing charters can be used for anywhere from 1 hour to the whole day. The longer a slick is worked the more the surrounding area is saturated. A common theme of shark fishing trips is “stick and stay, to make it pay,” meaning set up your slick, be patient, and see it to fruition. Some shark fishing charters I have seen them at a boat in 20 minutes; and others I have seen sharks at the boat in 7 hours… patience is a must!

Once sighted the Mako or other species of shark often form a pattern of movement around the boat.  This happens on all of our shark fishing trips.  As an apex predator enjoying their position at the top of the food chain, a Mako has no real fear of you or the boat. With their ominous, black beady eyes often staring directly at you, they will repeatedly circle the boat staring back and investigating the source of the smell.  Every shark is different some will eat almost immediately upon arrival. Others need a little coercion. If a shark fishing trip is not panning out on its own, oftentimes we will put a teaser on a conventional spinning rod setup in order to excite the shark into biting.  In this case, we get them amped on the spinning gear and pull the old “bait and switch” to hook them up on the fly. Our shark fishing charters almost never have an unsuccessful day!

After eating it takes a little patience for the shark to turn into a good position for a hook set. Easier said than done! You try not to pull immediately while watching a 250lb shark eat a fly within 30 feet of you! Once you have your angle, hit the fish like you would a tarpon. Our shark fishing guide will show you how to set the hook by using the line and the butt end of the rod. While on our mako shark fishing charters you should expect trying to hit them multiple times. Mako’s have very bone-filled jaws, so even with a 12-inch long fly you have to drive that hook home. When in doubt, hit them again!

If all goes well and you get a solid hook up, then hold on! No joke, without exaggerations these sharks are one of the fastest fish alive, swimming up to 45mph.  That means our mako shark fishing charters always entail 100, 200, 300-yard runs, so watch your knuckles! Furthermore, it’s not uncommon to see Mako sharks jump up to 20 feet in the air on our shark fishing charters!

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We use specialized tools for mako shark fly fishing on every single one of our shark fishing charters. Nothing is kept nor killed - nor will ever be killed - on our shark fishing trips, period. We are interested in the sport of things, not blood and guts, and these sharks are way too valuable alive to ever consider killing. On all our mako shark fishing charters we will get the sharks close to the boat, and our shark fishing guide will show you how to release them without ever removing them from the water. This is done for both the shark’s safety as well as yours. Mako’s have some of the gnarliest teeth in the shark world, and you do not want to see them up close on a live shark. With the barbless hooks and flies we use on all fly-fishing trips, the shark can be easily removed and sent off to be caught another day.

If you are ever in the area and wish to try fishing for something new and for something that hunts you back, give us a ring at The Fly Stop Guide Service. Our shark fishing guides work directly with the best names in the game -- including Conway Bowman, the man who created the entire game of mako shark fly fishing!  We would love to get you out on the water, and tie you to your first or next shark on the fly!

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