When the shark finds you first
A bull shark is thick through the body for its length, grey on top, with a short rounded snout and small eyes. It is one of the few sharks that can live in fresh water, and it moves up rivers and into harbours as readily as it patrols the open coast. Along Florida's east coast bull sharks hang around reefs and wrecks, and they know what a struggling hooked fish means. Plenty of anglers here have wound up half an amberjack.
Sport Fishing South Florida fishes the reefs, the wrecks and the Gulf Stream, which runs closer to the coast here than anywhere else in Florida, so the fishing starts soon after the boat clears the inlet. Trips are private for up to 6 and leave at 7:00, from 3 hours up to a full 8. The crew's favourite method is kite fishing with live goggle eyes, pilchards, threadfin herring and blue runners, with vertical jigging and trolling as well. A bull shark can turn up on any of those trips, drawn in by a fish on the line or a bait near the bottom.
The boat does not name sharks among its main targets, but the captain asks every group which fish they want, and heavy tackle is carried as well as light. If a big shark on the rod is the point of your trip, say so when you book, and ask how the crew would fish for one and how they release it. A bull shark is dangerous beside the boat, so leave the handling to the crew and keep your hands inside. Other boats on this stretch of coast are on our Palm Beach County page.
Questions and answers
Short answers to what people ask before they book. Anything else, ask the captain in chat.
Will I catch a bull shark on a Sport Fishing South Florida trip?
Nobody can promise one. Bull sharks live around the reefs and wrecks this boat fishes and often come in on a hooked fish, but the crew's named targets are sailfish, mahi mahi, kingfish, tuna, wahoo, cobia, snapper and grouper. Ask for a shark trip when you book if that is what you want.
Why do bull sharks take hooked fish off Palm Beach?
A fish fighting on a line gives off vibrations a shark reads as easy prey, and bull sharks live on the same reefs and wrecks as the amberjack, kingfish and snapper anglers are after. Bringing fish up quickly and moving on when sharks gather are the usual answers.