Leopard Sharks are easily one of the neatest species I’ve caught. I’d love to catch a big one. Photo courtesy California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Species: Leopard Shark (Triakis semifasciata)
Location: San Pablo Bay, San Francisco, CA
Date: March 25, 2012

This is the fourth story in succession and ties in with the other species I caught on the same day, and you’re best reading them in order: First and Second and Third.

***

It was so long ago; the memory is fuzzy. The experience was certain, but some details are blurred at the bloodshot, tired edge of reality. Whether it happened this way exactly while the little boy watched, or a fantastical young mind crafted sensory elements to accompany a particularly gripping story is uncertain.

There was a little boy with his family. He might have been three or seven or 10, but he certainly wasn’t any older.

He watched a man in overalls fishing from the beach. Grandpa wore overalls. This guy was wearing overalls, but they were rubber. Or plastic. Like the memory of that day.

Anyway, the man was using an absolutely gigantic fishing pole. Dad didn’t know why. Neither did Mom. That frustrated the boy. He liked to know why.

So as the family passed, the boy asked.

The old fisherman told the boy it was to keep the line above the breakers, another name for waves, apparently.

“What are you fishing for?” the boy asked.

“Surfperch,” replied the man.

The boy wondered aloud if perch could go in the ocean. He’d caught perch before.

These were different perch, though.

Different perch and breakers. The boy was learning.

The man’s rod doubled, and he caught a silverly fish he called a surfperch right then.

The boy ran up to get a better look, his parents cautioning him to not get in the man’s way. The man didn’t mind. He proudly showed off his catch before putting it in a bucket.

The young family grew tired of watching, so they started on down the beach. But the boy kept looking back. He couldn’t focus on the sand dollars or shells or the wet gooey sand between his toes. He was fascinated by the man behind him fishing.

Before the family left for the day, the rod doubled again, but no silvery surfperch broke the surface. This fish was clearly bigger. It ran and dove, and after a few minutes, the boy had frozen, intently watching the action.

What emerged from the water was shocking. It looked like a shark, but it had spots and looked more like a jaguar or a leopard.

As the boy would find out, it was both.

Catching a Leopard Shark became a life goal that day, and though the story’s details blurred, the beautiful fish never did.

***

The boy, now a man, tried chasing Leopard Sharks during college, but failed the first time. On the second pass, he found more success. His party had already boated two other species of sharks, rays, and his friend Ben even boated a Striped Bass.

Though Leopard Sharks were always a reasonable possibility along the California Coast, the man just didn’t expect it to happen. So, when line began ripping off the baitcaster again, he assumed it was something else.

When the color flashed in the creamy aqua water, the magical moment on the beach all those years before came back to him. He’d finally done it. The little boy’s dream had become a reality all these years later.

The captain began talking about how these beautiful sharks tasted like salmon, so the man was excited to try them. Unfortunately, this fish measured 35 inches in length, and Leopard Sharks have a minimum length of 36 inches in California.

Still, after a few quick pictures and a release, the man still felt privileged to have captured such a gorgeous fish.

My first Leopard Shark was just an inch too short to keep, but it was still a great fight on relatively light tackle.

#SpeciesQuest // #CaughtOvgard

Read the next entry in #SpeciesQuest here: Species #47 — Striped Bass.

76 Replies

  1. Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive learn something like this before. So nice to seek out somebody with some authentic ideas on this subject. realy thank you for beginning this up. this website is one thing that is wanted on the web, someone with just a little originality. helpful job for bringing something new to the web!

  2. When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get several e-mails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove people from that service? Appreciate it!

  3. F*ckin¦ tremendous things here. I am very satisfied to peer your post. Thank you a lot and i’m having a look forward to contact you. Will you kindly drop me a e-mail?

  4. hello!,I love your writing so so much! percentage we keep in touch more about your post on AOL? I require a specialist on this space to solve my problem. May be that is you! Looking forward to see you.

  5. I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I do not know who you are but definitely you’re going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already 😉 Cheers!

  6. I have learn several excellent stuff here. Certainly value bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how a lot attempt you put to create any such great informative web site.

  7. obviously like your web site but you have to check the spelling on quite a few of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling issues and I in finding it very bothersome to tell the reality nevertheless I will certainly come again again.

  8. What’s Happening i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve found It absolutely useful and it has aided me out loads. I hope to contribute & aid other users like its helped me. Good job.

  9. Thank you for sharing superb informations. Your site is so cool. I’m impressed by the details that you¦ve on this blog. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for extra articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found simply the info I already searched all over the place and simply couldn’t come across. What a perfect website.

  10. I¦ve been exploring for a little bit for any high-quality articles or weblog posts on this kind of area . Exploring in Yahoo I finally stumbled upon this web site. Reading this info So i¦m glad to express that I have an incredibly good uncanny feeling I came upon just what I needed. I so much definitely will make sure to don¦t disregard this web site and give it a glance regularly.

  11. I used to be more than happy to seek out this internet-site.I wanted to thanks to your time for this wonderful read!! I definitely having fun with every little bit of it and I’ve you bookmarked to take a look at new stuff you weblog post.

  12. Magnificent beat ! I would like to apprentice while you amend your website, how can i subscribe for a blog website? The account aided me a acceptable deal. I had been tiny bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered bright clear idea

  13. Hey this is kinda of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding expertise so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

  14. Very nice article and right to the point. I am not sure if this is really the best place to ask but do you people have any thoughts on where to employ some professional writers? Thx 🙂

  15. Thanks a bunch for sharing this with all of us you actually know what you’re talking about! Bookmarked. Kindly also visit my web site =). We could have a link exchange agreement between us!

  16. Nice post. I used to be checking continuously this blog and I’m inspired! Very helpful info specifically the closing phase 🙂 I take care of such info a lot. I used to be looking for this certain info for a long time. Thank you and best of luck.

  17. What Is Neotonics? Neotonics is a skin and gut supplement made of 500 million units of probiotics and 9 potent natural ingredients to support optimal gut function and provide healthy skin.

  18. What is Tea Burn? Tea Burn is a new market-leading fat-burning supplement with a natural patent formula that can increase both speed and efficiency of metabolism. Combining it with Tea, water, or coffee can help burn calories quickly.

  19. Hiya, I am really glad I’ve found this information. Today bloggers publish only about gossips and internet and this is really annoying. A good blog with interesting content, this is what I need. Thank you for keeping this web-site, I will be visiting it. Do you do newsletters? Can not find it.

  20. I have recently started a blog, the info you provide on this web site has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time & work. “Quit worrying about your health. It’ll go away.” by Robert Orben.

  21. Those are yours alright! . We at least need to get these people stealing images to start blogging! They probably just did a image search and grabbed them. They look good though!

  22. Virtually all of whatever you mention is supprisingly legitimate and that makes me wonder the reason why I hadn’t looked at this in this light before. Your article truly did turn the light on for me as far as this specific subject goes. However there is actually just one position I am not too comfy with and while I attempt to reconcile that with the actual main theme of the issue, let me see exactly what all the rest of your readers have to say.Well done.

  23. of course like your website however you need to test the spelling on several of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling issues and I to find it very bothersome to inform the truth then again I?¦ll surely come again again.

  24. Great ?V I should certainly pronounce, impressed with your site. I had no trouble navigating through all the tabs as well as related information ended up being truly easy to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it in the least. Reasonably unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or something, site theme . a tones way for your client to communicate. Excellent task..

  25. of course like your website but you have to take a look at the spelling on several of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very troublesome to tell the reality on the other hand I will surely come again again.

  26. In the great scheme of things you receive an A for effort and hard work. Where exactly you confused everybody was first on the particulars. As it is said, details make or break the argument.. And that couldn’t be much more true here. Having said that, permit me say to you just what did do the job. The writing is definitely quite engaging and that is possibly the reason why I am taking an effort to opine. I do not make it a regular habit of doing that. 2nd, even though I can easily notice a leaps in reasoning you make, I am not necessarily certain of just how you appear to unite your details which in turn produce the actual final result. For right now I shall subscribe to your position but wish in the near future you link the facts much better.

  27. hi!,I love your writing very a lot! percentage we keep up a correspondence extra approximately your post on AOL? I require a specialist on this house to resolve my problem. Maybe that is you! Having a look forward to look you.

  28. I discovered your blog site on google and check a few of your early posts. Continue to keep up the very good operate. I just additional up your RSS feed to my MSN News Reader. Seeking forward to reading more from you later on!…

  29. I’m impressed, I need to say. Really rarely do I encounter a weblog that’s both educative and entertaining, and let me inform you, you will have hit the nail on the head. Your thought is outstanding; the issue is one thing that not sufficient people are speaking intelligently about. I am very blissful that I stumbled throughout this in my search for something relating to this.

  30. Hello my family member! I want to say that this article is awesome, nice written and come with approximately all vital infos. I would like to see extra posts like this .

  31. Great goods from you, man. I’ve be aware your stuff prior to and you are simply too fantastic. I really like what you’ve received right here, certainly like what you’re saying and the best way by which you say it. You make it enjoyable and you still take care of to keep it sensible. I can not wait to read far more from you. This is actually a wonderful site.

  32. Greetings! I know this is kinda off topic but I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest writing a blog post or vice-versa? My website discusses a lot of the same topics as yours and I feel we could greatly benefit from each other. If you’re interested feel free to shoot me an email. I look forward to hearing from you! Wonderful blog by the way!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *