A shark on a fly rod? That's right — a shark on a fly rod

After a slow start, Aug. 25 was shaping up to be one of the most spectacular days for Bryan Oram's big game fishing charters since he started taking guests in 2014. 

Fishing 30 kilometres offshore in Bonavista Bay, a repeat client of The Shark Co. had hooked and released nine — that's right, nine — of the huge toothy creatures on a heavy-duty spincasting setup with an 80-wide Shimano reel and baited hooks, similar to what's used in bluefin tuna fishing.

His arms were understandably quite tired after all those battles, so he sat back to rest and, in a friendly kind of way, challenged Bryan to try to hook one on a fly and fly rod.

A shark on a fly rod? This was a joke, right?

Not for this adventurous 36-year-old, whose charter operation targets two species: blue and porbeagle sharks.

"I've always wanted to try fly-fishing for sharks, since seeing videos of people trying for mako sharks with a fly rod in the United States," he said.

Aboard his 25-foot Silver Dolphin, Bryan and company had been on a three-hour drift on this particular Friday with no sign of sharks until suddenly his client's large reel began to scream — and it was off to the races.

"The blue sharks had found us," said the Hare Bay native.

"The client hopped on the rod and had quite the fight with this eight-foot female. Shortly after tagging her, another had taken the baited hook. This carried out throughout the day and he was extremely happy after landing his ninth shark."

That's when he suggested that Bryan "have a go" with the fly rod he had packed that morning "just in case."

"Normally I don't ever have time to experiment with new tactics when I have guests, so this was a treat," Bryan noted. "He didn't have to twist my arm."

The rod was an 11 weight, with an oversized saltwater fly reel containing 300 yards of 100-pound test braided backing, 30 metres of 10 weight floating fly line and four feet of superfine braided, flexible wire leader. The feathered fly was tied on a 12/0 circle hook.

"The other sharks that I could see on the surface were all around the five-foot mark and they were just as interested in chasing the shearwaters that were diving for my fly underwater as they were the actual fly," Bryan told me.

He continued to cast, keeping the fly out of reach of the birds and in front of the sharks.

"Suddenly out of nowhere, a much bigger 7-1/2-foot female came blistering across the surface, full speed, fin up and chased off the small sharks. It was a wild commotion of streaking blue and splashing water," he said.

"Once she was satisfied that she had eliminated the competition, she turned back towards the boat, about 20 yards out, gave chase and inhaled the fly as I stripped it, top water!"

It was "wild," said Bryan.

"All on board — my client and crew alike — were cheering in disbelief!"

Several times throughout the 50-minute battle, the large female "would do a turn and burn, leaving only 20 or 30 yards of backing line on the reel. Those were the nail-bitter moments." he said.

With exhausted arms, Bryan finally landed the powerful creature boatside, where the fly was removed from the mouth and she was measured, sexed and tagged (to help with DFO research), then released.

He also checked her over for signs of injury, disease or anything foreign she may have ingested, such as plastics, which blue sharks are known to eat.

"This girl — thankfully — got a clean bill of health and was released to swim another day," said Bryan.

There's a lot of work that needs to be done to better understand sharks in order to help them, he added, and that's exactly what they aim to do.

"That was a pretty memorable moment in my shark fishing career, for sure. We've had some pretty wild experiences over the years, but to knock that off the bucket list was amazing," he said.

"I've landed and released hundreds of sharks, and every now and then, one will stick with you. For me, she's one of them."

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