This big bully — a 12- to 14-foot thresher — was quick to crash the party offshore of Bath, Maine, this week with Capt. Dave Pecci and Obsession Sportfishing Charters.
A flat calm, sunny day provided the perfect backdrop for a shark-fishing frenzy. This very interested blue shark hit a mackerel bait within moments of its deployment.
Capt. Dave Pecci ties on a balloon to a dead-bait rig for sharks.
A flat calm, sunny day provided the perfect backdrop for a shark-fishing frenzy. This very interested blue shark hit a mackerel bait within moments of its deployment.
Maine’s blue sharks grow big and emanate a vibrant blue color as we were able to witness with this curious customer.
Smiley, the blue shark.
The big thresher showed up on our depth sounder as we battled it to the boat.
As the thresher comes boatside, Capt. Dave Pecci and angler Spud Woodward prepare to be awed. While the fight took about 45 minutes, this shark still had a lot of fight and slapped the boat and crew twice with its long tail.
The ocean came alive with the warm, calm weather. This finback whale swam slowly past our boat, rolling three or four times before sounding.
Wilson’s storm petrels sip the fish oil off the surface from our chum slick.
A Wilson’s storm petrel looks like it’s dancing on the water as it collects oil and pogy bits from our slick.
A double hookup aboard the Southport 29, our buddy boat offshore. Gerry Benedicto (left, in yellow shirt) from Seaguar had cast a Shimano Orca lure, using a Sustain 10000 reel and Terez rod, to a surface-cruising blue shark. Ian Kopp, right, hooked into a behemoth thresher on a Tiagra 30.
The Southport 29 crew watches a big blue shark brought boatside by angler Rus Graham.
Another bright blue shark comes boatside.
Capt. Dave Pecci works to unwrap a twisting blue shark boatside before release.
A blue thrashes at the boat before a quick release.
So many blue sharks came into our slick that Mac McKeever from LL Bean decided to hook one up on a chum fly. If he had chosen to keep the shark, it very well could have eclipsed the state record — a 110-pounder caught by our host Capt. Dave Pecci. But McKeever chose to release the shark.
Southport Boats president Ian Kopp hooked up to an estimated 360-pound thresher shark.
Sport Fishing publisher Dave Morel leaders the big thresher boatside as Ian Kopp appreciates the results of his hour-plus fight.
The crew aboard the Southport 29 evaluate the size of the big thresher as they begin to revive it boatside.
Length estimates gave us an approximate weight for this thresher of 365 pounds.
The release! Two threshers and more than a dozen blue sharks made for an awesome offshore day of sharking out of Bath, Maine.
