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Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Prionace glauca
How to catch Blue shark
Blue shark feed in 54–72°F water and bite best at 58–68°F. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows them in 5 waters.
60 pts · trophy at 96"Feeds 54–72°FBest 58–68°FIn season nowLedge / hard bottomWreck
About
The long, cobalt-blue shark of the cool open ocean — the bread-and-butter of every Northeast shark trip, coming up the chum slick in numbers from Delaware to the Gulf of Maine. Most are released.
How to fish it
Drift and chum offshore in 100–300 ft, baits set at different depths on wire; blues come first and often.
What it eats
bunkermackerelsquid
Live bait for it
Menhaden (pogies)Nose-hooked on a circle hook and free-lined or slow-trolled; cut in chunks for the bottom.
Bonito (cut)Whole on cable for tiger and bull sharks; fillets and chunks on the bottom for grouper and snapper; strips trolled for wahoo.
SquidStrips on a bottom rig for snapper, grunts and porgies; whole on a deep-drop rig.What to fish it with
the sizes that fish itLeader80–150 lb mono
Hook8/0–16/0
Braid65–150 lb
The rule
not confirmed hereRules differ by state — check NOAA HMS (a federal HMS permit is required) before you keep one.
The current rule →Where it is, month by month
PPeakSSpawningAArriving·AroundLLeaving
Mid & North Atlantic