Here are just a few of the tips that are in New Secrets of Modern Trolling, the second book ever written exclusively about trolling for mako and thresher sharks by anyone, anywhere. It is the distillation of two books before it, The Thresher Shark Book and the original Shark Troller's Bible. As far as I'm concerned, anybody who is going to go trolling for, or just fishing for sharks, should read this book first, both from really learning how to do the job right, to the far more important side - staying safe around sharks.
Some of the old timers might remember when the original Thresher Shark Book came out and I was the only show in town when it came to shark lures (some of which few are using nowadays, and they are plain nuts not to). Back then, I would not sell you a single shark lure, gaff, hook rig, whatever, until you had bought and read that book, or Shark Chummer's Bible!
Crass commercialism? Hell no! I feel that crass commercialism is selling people the tools for messing around with sharks, but not letting them know where to get the knowledge on exactly how to do it well and safely. Then, as now, I absolutely did not want anybody going shark fishing without knowing exactly what they were doing first. I felt that it was grossly irresponsible to sell people the tools without making sure that they gained the all-important knowledge first, period! And if that cost me business, I didn't care, because it is so critical to play this game right and safely for both the fish and the fishermen, I felt that I had to take the kind of stand that I did.
It really is a damned shame that people sell shark stuff nowadays without insisting that their customers buy this book...and hey, I don't even sell shark stuff of any kind anymore, so why the heck shouldn't they? (Some dealers probably didn't realize that last part and I couldn't blame them for not wanting to send their customers to a competitor before I got out of the shark business completely, except for books.) Ask yourself that question the next time you buy some shark stuff and someone tries to give you a full and complete little seminar on the subject, instead of saying, "and oh yeah, and be sure to get yourself an e or print copy of Fred Archer's New Shark Troller's Bible before you mess with sharks, or if you've been doing it, but haven't read it yet, get it. Here's his email address." I simply do not understand that!
Okay, here goes. The pictures are self explanatory for the most part.
There were some questions regarding how to tell a male shark from a female. These are the "claspers" that all male sharks have...party time!
A mako eating the swimstep on a Hatteras...Leggo, ya little monsta! Imagine if that was you he was chewing on! The are possible anytime when you are trolling threshers and they are DANGEROUS AS HELL!
I call this one "the belt buckle mako" for reasons that I explain in the book. He was guilty of attempted murder, so we off'd his ass. Not a big one, but if he had gotten loose in that skiff, there would have been hell to pay!
The print version of the latest edition of the book.
"Sunshine leader" drawings - the best way that I know of for keeping a bait on the hook...lot's of re-bites and mouth hook jobs with this one.
Ditto for "The MackyWaggler", which is next. Best done with fresh, not frozen bait. A little more trouble than the Sunshine rigged bait, but a stone killer!
Another look at that swordfish shot, this time with captions. I realized after posting it that it should have been this picture instead of the other one because this one points out that you should thoroughly scrub all of the slime off of a sword before you cut it. Way better meat that way. And yes, you can catch them pretty consistenly during the day, but not the way it's "advertised" around here. You know what to do if you'd like to learn how, right?
One of your old neutrally buoyant hard headed skirted shark lures got whacked when fished from the downrigger yesterday. While I did not hook this fish, I later noticed that it has lost one of its eyes, probably from the force of a thresher's tail. Any idea where I can get a similar eye to glue back on the lure?
Thanks, guys. But isn't it amazing that there have only been three responses to this information? And there are answers to questions being asked over and over again on other boards and yet no one seems to come here to even have a chance of seeing and benefitting from them? I am beginning to think that I am wasting my time here.
As they say back in my old neighborhood, not for nothin', but I have a helluva lot on my plate, especially lately, to be wasting my time (sorry guys, I'm just being practical here), working my ass off and giving my work up for nothing to a tiny audience compared to the numbers that come here.
I am not going to say anything other than this, but I'm beginning think that there has been a stigma attached to me from being kicked off some of the other boards and that might be part of what is going on. We are trying to work that out right now (thanks, Ali, Jason, and Mark), but it seems to me that damage might have been done, at least in the eyes of some.
I'm not some prima donna who threatens to storm off in a huff when things like this happen, but I am a frustrated realist who can read the handwriting on the wall and I ask questions like I am now in order to rectify what is causing negatives. That's the spirt of this post, okay?
Kind of ironic, isn't it, that the shark post only has one thing in it that I sell, and I insist that every damned shark fisherman out there should have read, or should read it for GOOD, IMPORTANT, non-mercenary reasons? Ironic.
I will say no more, except what do you guys think about this?
i have been rigging macks similar to the sunshine method (and waggler) you showed, but it always seemed that they would skip more than they would swim? Especially with the waggler method...
I have added weight which helps, but is this meant to be more of a drop back or downrigger bait?
By the way looking forward to reading your book when I get home (my dad always buys your books, and I didn't even realize you were the same guy until last year ).
Sunshined baits and wagglers are usually fished in conjunction with either weighted lures, or more often on neutrally buoyant ones run off of downriggers or planers. If we do run them up top and on their own, it is in conjunction with a pretty heavy, in-line sinker, or if it's a bigger baitfish, which we almost always run as a hookless teaser for bait and switching, we shove the sinker down the fish's mouth, throat and gullet, as shown in the illustration below. Sorry, it's an east coast bluefish, but with all of the hot water I keep getting in around here, I dare not show the one of the, uh, the, umm, uh...well YoungTrout kinda saltwater one for out here...but I will say that if you don't get bit on, it makes for some pretty good sushi.
Our drop back baits are always fillet baits on fillet pins because of their great hookup characteristics and appeal to a fish that has ripped up a teaser. Pict below.
Hope this helps.
Pescador...I don't make shark stuff anymore, but let me look around, I've got to have some eyes around here somewhere. Meanwhile, put him back out there, name him "One Eyed Jack" and I'll bet you'll get bit! Stand by.
Green bass 16 3/4, on artificial, only way I fished them.
Some nice brown basses with Ernie Jenderko of the NY giants and the other offensive end with me at the University of Pittsburgh. He was bigger, I was faster and meaner. He went to the pros and I signed up to go play John Wayne. That didn't work out so well, so he was smarter, too. I admit it. But he busted up a knee pretty quick and washed out. Both of us have the scars to prove it.
If you mean checkerboards or pus bellies, I used to fish the checkers a fair amount way back when on the boilers with Bill Henderson, if you remember Big Hammer. This was long before it got popular. George, the cook on the Fury out of Dana and one helluva calico fisherman and quite likely the real father of boiler fishing calicos, was about the only other person we saw out there. Got some pictures of some of those fish around here someplace too, including some very big ones. We never killed a one.
It was incredible fishing back then. 40# line, locked drags, just like the wall was back even before that and the So Cal Bassmasters, which I was a member of, were the only people I ever saw fishing the wall at night. Jerry Abney, Bob "One Cast" Hammet, Norm Dye, Wayne Cummings, Don Seifert, Bill Haddock, Chuck English and so on. We used Garcia baitcasters with Super Glue locked drags and our black, Harnell pistol grip bass rods. Awesome fishing! Those calicos are some fierce warriors! Great fish, great guys, great memories!
Yeah, I've caught a few bass. I think that they are great fish.
Thanks for the info Fred, I have the Shark Trollers Bible and the Thresher Shark book in my library and have used a lot of your methods when hunting (and hooking) sharks in our local waters.
I do enjoy reading your posts and I'll bet a lot of others around here do as well. I'll be sure to show my appreciation for your efforts more often. I've always thought of you as an interesting character in this industry and I hope to see your posts, techniques and perspective on this board in the future.
Any thoughts on using circle hooks in that good ole' sunshine rig? I'm hoping to increase mouth hooks ups by dropping back the lure/bait combo after drawing a tail strike.
Thanks for the info Fred, I have the Shark Trollers Bible and the Thresher Shark book in my library and have used a lot of your methods when hunting (and hooking) sharks in our local waters.
I do enjoy reading your posts and I'll bet a lot of others around here do as well. I'll be sure to show my appreciation for your efforts more often. I've always thought of you as an interesting character in this industry and I hope to see your posts, techniques and perspective on this board in the future.
Any thoughts on using circle hooks in that good ole' sunshine rig? I'm hoping to increase mouth hooks ups by dropping back the lure/bait combo after drawing a tail strike.
Great question! I would like to hear your thoughts on this also, Fred.
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