Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
A lot of sand tiger sharks have been finding their way onto local anglers hooks lately and it's important for fishermen to know and remember that these sharks are listed as a "prohibited species". Anglers cannot intentionally target them, but if they're accidentally hooked, just like most other sharks, sand tigers are required to be released just as soon as they are brought to the boat or on the beach.
In the realm of sport fishing, sand tigers are anything but energetic superstars. These sharks are pretty much just big ugly lugs that stay close to the bottom and feed on a variety of fish including menhaden, bluefish, sea robins, skates and other relatively small prey. Despite their large size and very prominent dentures, sand tigers are rather docile creatures that don’t expend much energy when hooked. Compare the profile of a sand tiger to most other sharks and it's easy to see how their short stubby fins and bulky bodies are not exactly built for speed. They're more of a "let's hang out here and see what comes along that we can ambush" kind of predator than a "let's dart around and see what we can catch" hunter like most sharks. This makes sand tigers very unique among sharks since "hanging out" in one location is something most other species can't do because of their physiology.
Most folks are aware that, because they lack a swim bladder, sharks must continuously swim, otherwise, like an airplane that loses it's power, they'll crash to the bottom. However, sand tigers are able to overcome this shortcoming by literally sticking their heads out of the water and gulping air, which they retain in their stomach and use to give themselves additional buoyancy while underwater. Since they can almost hover in the water column, sand tigers don't burn a lot of energy by kicking their tails 24/7 as other sharks do and they don't need big fins (or wings} to keep them from crashing.
Another unique feature of sand tiger sharks are their long, thin and very formidable looking teeth. But looks are deceiving! Unlike most other shark species in our area that have more triangular and serrated teeth that are well suited for cutting and sawing large prey down to bite size chunks, sand tiger's teeth are sharp on the tips but not on the sides, making them best suited for snagging small to medium size prey that they can swallow whole. This tooth design plays into the shark's trait of "gulp feeding" which means that, similar to what many bony fish do, sand tigers move in close to their meal, quickly throw open their very large mouths and literally suck water and prey into their jaws. Once it's inside their mouths, sand tigers waste no time in swallowing their meal.
So what does all this mean to fishermen? For one thing it explains why, compared to other sharks of similar size, sand tigers are a rather lack-luster fight on the line. You're fighting a big fat guy, not an Olympic athlete - fast and furious is not what they do. It also explains why there is such a high incidence of gut-hooking sand tigers. Anyone who has caught more than a couple of these sharks knows that even with the use of circle hooks more than half of the sand tigers they catch will be hooked not in the jaw, but in the esophagus or stomach, and when J-hooks are used the incidence of gut hooking is much higher.
The reason sand tigers are gut hooked more than other sharks is because of their slow moving nature and gulp feeding habits. Most other sharks will pick up a bait while on the move, allowing the line to come tight and the circle hook to be set while the bait is still in its mouth. But sand tigers will swim up to a bait, suck it in and then just hang there almost motionless until they swallow it. Often the angler has no idea their bait has been taken for a long time after the initial pick up, but then it's too late and the hook is already in the belly of the beast!
Gut hooking is not necessarily a death sentence to sharks or other fish, but if the hook impales internal organs or the remaining leader gets tangled internally or externally on something it shouldn't, it can lead to the eventual death of the animal. Over the years, we've done a lot of work and experimentation with different terminal tackle and techniques to try and eliminate the gut hooking of sharks. We've had almost total success with our "blocker-rig" (plastic pipe above the hook} that prevents most all other species of sharks from swallowing the hook, but with sand tigers the success rate has not been as high. However, just two weeks ago we finally came up with a rig that has proven so far to be successful in getting a perfect corner of the mouth hook set on sand tigers 100% of the time!
The "free-hook rig" (as we call it} is as simple as it is effective. It is nothing more than a circle hook on the end of a wire leader, but instead of impaling the bait on the hook, the bait is tied (or zip-tied} to a separate length of line (we've been using 200 lb mono} that is tied or crimped to the bend in the hook. The distance between hook and bait is 10-inches. When we get a bite on this rig we allow a little time before we tighten up on the line to actually "allow" the shark to swallow the bait - a practice we haven't done for a long, long time! Because of the separation between the hook and the bait, even though the bait ends up in the belly, the hook is only inside the mouth, so when we pull on the line the hook goes right into the jaw. Because the bait-line is attached to the bend (not the eye} of the hook, resistance from the bait when we pull tight keeps the hook in perfect position to latch onto the jaw as it's pulled perfectly into the corner of the mouth every time!
So far we have been blown away at how well this rig has worked at eliminating the gut hooking of sand tiger sharks. This is a rig that should work equally as well in the surf as from a boat and although we haven't had any bites by large specimens of other species on it yet, I'm pretty sure it's going to prove effective on them as well. The only drawback we've seen so far is that when small sharks attack the bait they won't get the hook in their mouths and, therefore, won't be caught. We're working on a solution to that problem now. I hope other fishermen who give a darn about preventing the gut hooking of sharks will consider using the free-hook rig whenever they're fishing big baits in areas frequented by sand tigers.
Capt. Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat, “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center. During the winter months, Capt. Mark runs charters in the Lower Keys.
