Amid record-setting shark sightings on the East Coast, Captain Tom LaCognata (proper) has hooked all the things from small dusky sharks to a 438-pound thresher shark -- his largest ever. The shark hunter additionally received the distinguished Brooklyn shark fishing match in 2016, and positioned fifth within the 2014 Freeport Hudson Anglers match with a monster 323 pound shortfin mako shark, the world's quickest species, clocked at as much as 46 miles per hour.
Matthew McDermott for NY Submit
Whereas some are cowering from seashores amid stories of sharks “amassing” in record-setting numbers off East Coast shores, Tom LaCognata is braving the waters like a real-life Captain Quint from “Jaws.”
Captain LaCognata of Rockaway Fishing Charters took The Submit fishing this week — three miles off Lengthy Island’s Jones Seashore on the Atlantic Ocean — to see if these man-eaters actually reside as much as the deadliest catch hype.
Mates Gene Rudd and Tom Laible took turns combating a thresher shark that weighs greater than Shaquille O’Neal. Every time considered one of these sharkers tires out, they cross the fishing rod to the opposite angler, to allow them to sip water and towel off like Jake LaMotta between rounds. After a backbreaking, hour-long tug of struggle, the group lastly reels an roughly 16-foot, 400-pound sea monster shut sufficient to the boat to harpoon. That’s the dramatic — heart-sinking — second when the muscular sea beast drags the road lots of of yards again out into open water, forcing these shark bosses to start the battle another time.
“It’s a fairly fascinating, enjoyable recreation,” LaCognata, who fees $1,400 for seven-hour sharking excursions, instructed The Submit. “You get the chew, then the chaos begins.”
‘Persons are simply now beginning to develop into conscious of it due to social media. They overlook we reside on an island — the place do you suppose the sharks are?’
Luke Alter, 25, Lengthy Island fisherman on the NYC shark growth of 2022
It’s prime time to pursue apex predators: The East Coast has skilled a veritable sharknado of late, with extra sightings — together with one nice white blood feast in Could — within the final two years than the earlier decade. A record-setting 26 have been noticed final summer time in Nassau County alone. General, the US leads the world in “unprovoked” shark assaults after a three-year decline, whereas the variety of fatalities peaked in 2021 at 11 — topping 2020’s former excessive of 10.
Alarm over the 2022 season began rising in December, when a viral tweet revealed that the Ocearch International Shark Trackers had mapped 100 tagged sharks gathering within the Atlantic Ocean close to the East Coast of the US.
LaCognata, 54, instructed The Submit he has certainly observed quite a bit “extra sharks” and that they’ve been “nearer to shore” than ever earlier than.
In flip, authorities are beefing up safety throughout the area’s seashores. Earlier this month, Lengthy Island applied the Hempstead City Shark Patrol, that includes lifeguards on Jet Skis that scour the water for sharks, after a fisherman noticed a 10-foot mako shark on the Lengthy Seashore Barrier Island.
“Individuals is not going to wish to hear this, however I typically see sharks both proper within the waves or simply past the waves,” conservation biologist and Shark Week host Craig O’Connell instructed LI’s native information outlet after the Workplace of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation added three predator-tracking drones to its fleet.
In his 15-plus years of tournament-winning sharking, LaCognata has landed a assassin’s row of those toothy predators: From small dusky sharks to a 438-pound thresher shark — his largest ever. He’s additionally hooked amonster 323-pound shortfin mako shark — a labeled “man-eater” and the world’s quickest species, clocked at as much as 46 miles per hour.
Scientists attribute the shark spike to warming waters. “Local weather change is certainly enjoying a job […] particularly within the sightings we’re seeing this yr and final yr,” stated Chris Paparo, of the South Fork Pure Historical past Museum’s shark analysis group. “As sea temperatures are rising attributable to local weather change, a number of fish populations are shifting north.”
In 2020, Manhasset resident TJ Minutillo landed an almost 8-foot-long bull shark, a usually heat water species, which is answerable for the most assaults within the US alongside the nice white and the tiger shark.
This information could also be unnerving to beach-goers, however not for LaCognata, whose objective is to get a “shark chew.” Whereas he primarily targets makos and threshers, every now and then, the shark czar hooks up with one thing even badder.
“Once we tagged him — he was spectacular,” stated Robert Hueter, chief scientist at Ocearch, the nonprofit marine group monitoring the shark.
‘Individuals name sharking a beer-drinking sport: Generally we wait all day for a chew, generally you get it straight away. Generally you don’t get it in any respect.‘
Captain LaCognata, conserving it actual with The Submit
“We’ve attached nice whites [accidentally], in all probability 6 to 7 toes,” stated LaCognata, who needed to launch them because the “susceptible” species is protected below the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Administration Act. “We have been capable of get [them] near the boat and simply reduce the road. You don’t wish to get too near their tooth.”
“I’ve seen two nice whites swim below the boat that have been humongous,” LaCognata added of one other encounter, which evoked the long-lasting breaching scene in “Jaws.” “I used to be again there chumming and simply appeared over the strict of the boat and I see this large nice white go by after which one other one go by proper after that.”
The inadvertent nice white hunter added, “Fortunately they didn’t take our baits or they'd’ve simply spooled the entire line,” referring to when fish takes all the road off the reel.
What’s the attract of pursuing these ferocious hunters? “It’s the fun of the sport,” LaCognata stated. “Getting them attached is a really troublesome factor to do. And getting them in is much more troublesome. And in the event you wanna launch them, that’s fairly troublesome as nicely.”
Considered one of his favourite sharks to catch is the mako as they’re “fierce” and “quick” and “do a number of jumps.”
Shark fisherman Tom Laible, 54, of Rockaway Seashore, Queens, teaches The Submit's Ben Price (proper) methods to correctly wield his rod. Price, 33, helped struggle a 400-pound thresher shark for 90 minutes, sadly dropping the shark simply toes from the boat.
Shortfin mako sharks are the quickest species within the ocean, swimming at speeds of as much as 46 mph. "They're fierce they usually're very quick, they do a number of jumps," stated LaCognata.
This 438-pound thresher is LaCognata's largest catch. Threshers use their tails to stun prey. "They whack prey, then they return after which they go and eat it," the captain defined.
Thresher is understood for the delicate taste and agency meaty texture. "My favourite strategy to cook dinner it will be bbq, some teriyaki sauce and a few sesame seeds," stated LaCognata. "Reduce them up into little chunks, put them on skewers and grill them, they're scrumptious."
The 202-pound thresher that received LaCognata the 2016 Brooklyn Shark match.
"Individuals name sharking a beer-drinking sport: Generally we wait all day for a chew, generally you get it straight away. Generally you aren't getting it in any respect," stated LaCognata.
A typical shark fishing tour entails taking a ship between 3 and 45 miles offshore, typically in tumultuous waters. When it arrives at its vacation spot — often “a wreck or rubble,” per LaCognata — the crew begins making a “chum slick” by throwing a hole-riddled yellow bag full of floor bunker over the facet of the transferring boat to entice the creature’s unparalleled sense of scent.
The 130-pound check strains baited with mackerel and bunker are set out at totally different depths, and the ready begins. “Individuals name sharking a beer-drinking sport,” stated LaCognata. “Generally we wait all day for a chew, generally you get it straight away. Generally you don’t get it in any respect.”
In the event that they do get fortunate, the crew — which typically contains no less than two guys apart from the captain as a result of grueling nature of the gig — scrambles to their positions like a predator-pursuing pit crew. The angler jams their large 80-class Penn Worldwide rod into their belt holder and begins combating, LaCognata steers the boat to maintain the sharker on prime of the fish, and when shut sufficient, two different mates harpoon, gaffe and at last tail-rope the beast. After the fish is secured, gaffes are used to haul it by a door within the boat.
Even then, the battle’s not over. “You gotta tie off the top and tail,” cautioned LaCognata. “Generally once you suppose they’re useless they’re not even useless. They only come again to life and begin thrashing round.” As such, LaCognata advises towards placing one’s head in a shark’s mouth for Instagram likes.
Wrestling threshers is very difficult attributable to their whip-like tail — used for gorgeous fish — which measures half the size of their physique, generally as much as 9 toes lengthy. LaCognata’s mate, who goes by Nick the Greek, claims that a 400-lb thresher might “break your leg” with one slap of its rudder. Throughout The Submit’s October tuna journey, the mate pulled up his shirt to disclose giant purple welts throughout his torso the place a thresher had flogged him on a earlier outing.
What’s the reward for profitable this maritime heavyweight match? Within the case of touchdown a mako or thresher, it’s the succulent, swordfish-like flesh, which is usually “chopped into steaks” to eat, in response to LaCognata. “Relies upon how the shopper likes [it],” he added. “My favourite strategy to cook dinner it will be barbecue, some teriyaki sauce and a few sesame seeds. Reduce them up into little chunks, put them on skewers and grill them, they’re scrumptious.”
In fact, “lots of people don’t like sharks to be killed,” LaCognata admitted. “Individuals wish to do catch and launch. We’re high quality with that. I’d fairly not kill any sharks.”
Do you have to actually be afraid NYC shark season?
Regardless of their fearsome reputations, many imagine the NYC shark scare of 2022 is overblown. Many of the species recognized in Nassau County final yr have been frequent sand sharks or thresher sharks, which aren't identified to assault people.
“They don’t actually should be afraid of the threshers, they don’t chew,” stated LaCognata. “They’re simply looking the faculties of fish.”
In the meantime, Lengthy Island fisherman Luke Alter, 25, believes there is identical variety of sharks there have at all times been. “We’ve been residing with these fish within the ecosystem without end,” the potential lawyer, who’s been fishing NY waters all his life, instructed The Submit. “Persons are simply now beginning to develop into conscious of it due to social media.”
“They overlook we reside on an island — the place do you suppose the sharks are?” Alter added.
Nonetheless, the general public concern doesn’t appear to be dying down anytime quickly. LaCognata recounted one humorous occasion that occurred whereas his crew was bringing in a 202-pound thresher shark that received him the 2016 Stella Maris Shark Match.
“On our means in, proper earlier than we received into the inlet, the Coast Guard pulled us over and stopped us for a routine examine,” LaCognata recalled. “We instructed them we had a shark on board, we needed to weigh him in. They stated, ‘We don’t care, we’re the Coast Guard. We’re right here to examine you out and that’s it.'”
The captain continued, “The Coast Guard man stated, ‘I’m not going to come back on the boat, since you received that huge ass shark within the again so we’ll do it proper from right here.'”
Finally LaCognata tells potential sharkers that they “shouldn’t be afraid” of fishing for the critters. “We handle all the things,” says the seasoned sea canine, who claims that nobody has gotten a lot as a hook within the hand throughout his sharking journeys.
“I had a husband and spouse do it, a father and daughter. All of them caught,” stated LaCognata. “I've six women that wanna come out. They got here out striper [striped bass] fishing and preferred it a lot they wanna strive shark fishing.”
Like scaling a climbing wall to arrange for Mount Everest, LaCognata stated some anglers may wish to “work their means up” earlier than tackling Jaws.
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