Dear friends, this time I present an interesting article written by Dr. Pat Ford, professional photographer, about the Makos sharks. All pictures were taken by the author. This article was published in the latest edition of our magazine Sol Y Mar Magazine. You can see this article completely, as well as the most recent editions of our magazine by visiting our website www.solymarmagazine.com or by clicking on our logo

Mako sharks are deep blue water predators that can grow up to 1000 pounds and prowl the oceans for big prey.



Catching one of these beautiful predators on a fly rod was practically impossible until the famous fly fisherman and Hall of Fame member Billy Pate caught the first one in New Zealand in 1984. In order to catch the first mako on fly, Billy Pate traveled far from his home in the Florida Keys to find an area that had smaller makos in shallow waters. His first catch was a 65 pounds world record!
More recently Captain Conway Bowman discovered a fishery for mako sharks in San Diego California.



Over the years Captain Bowman has guided his costumers to numerous catches of mako sharks on fly. Mako sharks have a very sensitive olfactory system that can detect very small amounts of fish scent dissolved in water. They use this physiologic advantage to find prey. Captain Bowman uses this same advantage to draw sharks close to his boat, where his anglers can cast a fly and trick the shark into biting it. He does this by placing fish carcasses in the water, allowing the ocean currents to carry the fish scent far from the boat. Once the sharks detect the scent they will follow it up to the boat. In recent years I had the opportunity to fish for makos in San Diego with Dr. Steve Ward and his wife Randie.



They are excellent fly anglers that fish regularly for mako sharks. On the first day we raised twelve sharks and landed eight plus two blue sharks. This fishery is very exiting and Captain Bowman insists on releasing all the sharks alive! This is very important for the preservation of the species. If you are interested in this exiting fishery for mako sharks on fly, check out Captain Bowman’s website:
Bowmanbluewater.com or call him at (619) 822-6256