Shark Fishing Eco-Charters

Depending on the season, the waters around New York and New Jersey are prime fishing grounds. OCF is available for shark sampling and fishing charters during the months of May-October. During these charters, you will get the opportunity to deploy a longline (for shark sampling), haul the longline, participate in other shark fishing activities (i.e. tagging, tissue and blood sampling), and even get time to fish for dinner, as we will head in search of some jumbo doormat fluke. Charters can range from 5-10 hours with a maximum of 6 people.

Longline Deployment and Fishing

During each trip, you will get the opportunity to deploy a 250 hook longline. This work is being conducted to aid in characterizing the marine fauna, including sharks, in our local waters. If a shark is captured, each client will get the opportunity to quickly work with sharks, whether it be:

Tagging
Data Collection
Tissue Sampling
Blood Sampling
De-hooking

Shark species that we will be targeting, include: common threshers, shortfin makos, blue, smooth dogfish, spiny dogfish, sandbar, various hammerhead species, and tiger sharks. This is capture and release fishing only.

Fishing

Although we can cater the charter to your desired target species, Dr. Craig O'Connell's specialty is fluke. During longline deployment, we will make a few drifts for fluke. After longline retrieval, we will head to some other fluke "hotspots" in hopes to find some dinner.

Depending on the season, we may target other species on rod-and-reel, including large sharks, bluefish, striped bass, and several pelagic species. Specifc details of each trip will be discussed with the clients prior to departure.