I love shark action stories, and finally ’tis the season. June is when the famed thresher sharks (T-sharks) invade our local waters in search of mackerel, sardines and anchovies.

Thresher shark swims in emerald waters near Santa Barbara. (Courtesy photo)
Thresher sharks usually arrive in waters near Santa Barbara in June. (Courtesy photo)

A family chartered us for a June fishing adventure and were on deck happily swapping fishing tales with Capt. Tiffany, who was freshening up shark rigs. The day felt “fishy” in a promising way.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the eerie image of a phantom rising up behind a large anchovy, being slowly reeled in by a pre-teen girl. It was the unmistakable shape of a shark.

The big critter moved quickly and furtively, dashing away and then back again. I yelled, “Thresher!”

Capt. Tiffany dashed for the cabin to grab a suitable rig, while I tossed a few live anchovies out behind the boat.

The shark stayed close by, feeding on the chum I was slowly metering out. Capt. Tiffany came out with just the right rig for a sporting battle with a T-shark.

We hooked up a lively six-inch mackerel, dropped the big baitfish in the water, and let it take line out until it was about 30 feet from the boat.

We engaged the clicker, put the reel in freespool and set it in a rod holder while I continued to meter out chum fish. Less than 10 minutes later that reel screamed for two seconds and then went silent.

The thresher had whacked the mackerel with its powerful tail, which Capt. Tiffany describes as like swinging a brick on the end of a rope. We waited for the shark to turn and eat the big bait fish.

The pre-teen girl standing by the rod didn’t feel ready to tackle a big shark (such a feeling must be respected), but her big sister was hyped with anticipation. She took the rod out of the holder and waited for my instructions.

The reel screamed again, and we let that critter run out about 10 yards of line. I told the girl to put the reel in gear, lift up and slam the hook home hard.

She did, and that thresher greyhounded in the air three times and took off for open water at roughly Mach 3 speed.

The fight lasted three-quarters of an hour before she brought the fish close enough to safely bring onboard.

We brought it aboard and kept everyone a safe distance from that wild tail and thrashing head while Capt. Tiffany jumped on the shark because shark wrestling is her favorite thing to do.

These passengers knew how delicious a thresher shark is and opted to keep it, yet vowed to release any more that we may catch.

That’s what I like to hear … keep only one for the table and let the rest go.

Capt. David Bacon is a boating safety consultant and expert witness, with a background in high-tech industries and charter boat ownership and operation. He teaches classes for Santa Barbara City College and, with a lifelong interest in wildlife, writes outdoors columns for Noozhawk and other publications. The opinions expressed are his own.