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Sports

West Islip Fishermen Catch a Dozen Sharks

Local anglers have a great day out at sea.

Aboard captain John Harty's 25 foot Sea Quest fishing boat, the four man West Islip crew had a great day out on the water. Harty and the crew left the Secatogue Lane canal at about 7am Tuesday morning and headed out past the Fire Island inlet. The game plan was to drift along the Virginia shipwreck about 30 miles offshore to catch shark. Although Harty's brief pit stop for bunker fish just outside the Fire Island inlet was a good decision.

The crew spotted a pod of bunker fish and figured they could bring some live bait out to the deep ocean waters. The fish were coming into the boat left and right as the crew enjoyed a great start to their trip. The day would get even better when crew member, Michael Villa, realized he hooked something other than a bunker fish. Captain Harty netted Villa's 40-pound striped bass and crew was ecstatic to hit the open water for shark.

Captain Harty, a retired New York City fire fighter, and his crew, who almost entirely consisted of the sons of retired fire fighters, Thomas Adair, Michael Villa, Joseph Joy, and Ryan Harty, arrived at the shipwreck and began to prepare their tackle.

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Fish are drawn to wrecks because they offer an environment similar to a reef. Fish hold up in the wrecks because they provide shelter from the tides and a source of food. Sharks are then drawn to the wrecks to feed on these fish. The crew aboard captain Harty's boat, appropriately named, 'Mako My Day', had their bait hooked and all four lines 50ft apart in the water. The chum bucket, which consisted of ground up bait fish, was filtering a scent that sharks can smell from miles away. As the waiting game began, captain Harty turned on the radio, and the song, "What Is Love" blared into the open waters.

The love from the sharks came within 15 minutes. The first rod began to bend like a horseshoe as the line began to feed out from reel. Captain Harty told Adair to "belt up" and sit in the fighting chair to begin reeling in the shark. It took about 20 minutes but when the shark surfaced the crew realized they had an 8 foot blue shark on the line. Then the non-stop action ensued.

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For over two hours many crew members on board were reeling in a shark at a time. Sharks began circling the boat which created an atmosphere that was similar to the movie "Jaws".  At one point small blue shark was grabbed a hold of the chum bucket and began tearing it apart. Captain Harty daringly leaned over board and smacked the shark in head to get it off.

The captain and crew called it a day after bring 12 blue sharks up to the side of the boat. Almost all shark meat is edible although some have a better taste than others. Mako is the best tasting shark meat because of the anatomy of the shark. Most sharks have no urinary tract and excrete urea through their flesh, which, in turn, impacts the quality and taste of their meat. Urine in sharks accumulates in the blood and is then secreted through the skin. Mako's flesh is "urine free" because it has a separate urinary tract.

Overall the trip has a success and the crew came home with great stories to tell, pictures, video, and a few pounds of fresh striped bass meat.

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