The taxman always gets his share… or in this case, he gets the whole thing.
When I’m bass fishing in Wisconsin, I’m not too worried about losing a fish to another creature of the deep. In fact, if a pike or a muskie took a run at a bass on my line, I’d actually be pretty stoked. I’ve seen videos of the ol’ two-for-one combo when that happens, but I have to imagine that it is pretty rare.
Ocean fishermen, on the other hand, always having to keep an eye out for the “taxman,” which is what saltwater anglers call sharks that lurk behind and around their boats, waiting to steal away their hard-earned catches.
These Cape Cod anglers learned about it the hard way, but based on the excitement of the robbery, I think they’d gladly take it again.
Sharks In Cape Cod
Cape Cod has emerged as one of the world’s premier aggregation spot for great white sharks with an incredibly dense population. Driven by the massive recovery of gray seal populations along the Massachusetts coast, hundreds of sharks migrate to the Outer Cape each summer and fall. They patrol the shallow waters and steep sandbars from Chatham to Provincetown, trying to ambush seals just yards from the shoreline. While great whites dominate the local headlines, the surrounding Atlantic waters also host blue sharks, mako sharks, sand tigers, and the highly abundant dogfish.
As you can imagine… that’s bad news for anglers. Especially striper anglers. Simply put, the erratic vibrations of a struggling striped bass act as an underwater dinner bell for sharks… especially juvenile sharks who don’t know better.
This aggressive behavior has forced local charter captains to heavily adapt their tactics, often requiring them to immediately cut their engines and relocate the moment a shark is spotted to avoid losing their catch. Some technological options have also been explored to try and keep sharks away.
In this clip out of Orleans, Massachusetts, a family had gone out on an offshore fishing excursion with Columbia Sportfishing when the striped bass they had hooked quickly turned into a lure for a much bigger fish. A striper started flopping on the surface of the water, prompting what was believed to be a young great white shark to launch its attack.
One second, the striped bass was there, being handlined towards the boat by the guide, and the next, it was not. The shark attacked with so much speed that it actually overshot a bit, and violently flopped back down into the water while hitting its tail fin against the boat. If it would have had any more “umph” behind it, there’s a chance the shark could have toppled into the back of the boat and slapped that young kid in the face with its tail fin.
That being said… what an experience for that kid. It’s the kind of thing you remember forever, and just may have hooked him for life… no pun intended.
“We’ve had a few reports of sharks taking bass this year. This video shows just how fast it happens. Fishermen should keep this in mind when retrieving and releasing fish.”
Because these sharks are hunting in the exact same coastal surf zones where humans swim and fish, the region has heavily invested in public safety infrastructure.
Organizations like the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy tag and track dozens of sharks, providing real-time acoustic buoy data to lifeguards and the public via the Sharktivity app to monitor exactly when and where these predators are moving along the Cape.
Head on a swivel in those shark waters, people.
