Messing with Mako Sharks by John Dalla-Rossa

There are two species of shark that have no fear of man whatsoever; they are the mako and the great white.

I have watched both species circle boats, taste test outboard legs and try to rip off berley buckets - all the while eyeballing you with their black beady eyes, telling you that you are on their turf and out there they make the rules.

You have to respect them because it's their hunting ground. Makos are a great sports fish, they fight dirty, jump all over the ocean and always have you on your toes. Makos are a truly magnificent game fish and we have them in our own backyard for six months of the year.

For newcomers to the sport, one needs to be careful in handling makos. Anything over 100kg needs to be treated with a lot of respect and in the heat of battle one tends to throw caution to the wind.

WHERE AND WHEN TO TARGET THEM

The prime time for makos is November right through to May. Anywhere off our coastline and usually drifting in the 40m to 70m depth lines is the most productive.

FISHING METHODS

The best method is ballooning. Simply half blow up a balloon and tie it off. Measure out about 10m from your bait to the balloon and tie a slip knot from your main line to the balloon so when the fish strikes, the balloon comes free and floats away.

The reason for the 10m between the bait and the balloon is because if the bait is set too shallow the mutton-birds and albatrosses will make short work of your bait. If it's set too deep the arrow squid will knock it off just as quick.

It's not infallible but it works most of the time. The one big problem can be seals and there's not too much you can do about them except bring all the bait and berley in and hope that they go away.

For multiple rods when ballooning out simply stagger the length of line out from each rod. For example, rod 1 is 10m from the boat, rod 2 is 30m and rod 3 is 50m from the boat.