The Blacktip Shark
May 06, 2013
By Florida Sportsman Editor
SIZE
Common from 5-30 pounds; seldom reaches 100 pounds, but reported to 200 or more. World record 270 pounds, 9 ounces; Florida record 152 pounds.
FOOD VALUE
Very good.
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GAME QUALITIES
Pound for pound, probably the scrappiest of sharks.Wages a wild battle on light tack- le, marked by long runs and frantic jumps, especially in shallow water.
TACKLE AND BAITS
Spinning and baitcasting outfits; also fly outfits.Takes shrimp and any sort of fresh cut bait.With good presentation (Sharks have poor eye- sight, and you have to put the lure very close to them), they will also hit a variety of artificial lures, especially topwater plugs and flyrod poppers; large (for purposes of visibility) streamer flies; slow-swim- ming jigs and underwater plugs.
FISHING SYSTEMS
Casting; Drifting; Still Fishing.
OTHER NAMES
Small Blacktip
RANGE
All Florida coasts, the Bahamas and the Caribbean.
HABITAT
Occurs from the open sea to the coast. One of the most familiar sharks in Florida, where it is often seen on shallow flats and along beaches and shorelines.Also plentiful around passes and inlets.
