SHARK : Fighting Qualities of the Mako Are Luring Big-Game Fishermen Out in Ever-Growing Numbers

James Vollaire was holding the beating heart of a freshly gutted mako shark in his hand.

As he displayed to his friends the pulsating organ in his open palm, the shark, lying on deck apparently lifeless, began to thrash so violently that it sent many of the passengers scurrying for cover. It was clear to most anglers aboard that this would not be a run-of-the-mill fishing trip.

Frank Savino had skippered the 50-foot California Dawn, a fishing boat operating out of Davey’s Locker in Newport Beach, to the usual spot--the 14-mile bank midway between Newport Harbor and Catalina Island.

Once there, the deckhands began to set up the “chum line,” hanging over the side a gunnysack full of fish carcasses and frozen blood to put a scent into the water, and throwing dead fish and fish parts overboard. The drift of the boat helps establish a line of chum, which the sharks usually follow in their search for food.

The fishermen let their baited lines out and eagerly awaited the call to action: the sound of line reeling from the spool.

It didn’t take long for the first shark to appear. A small blue shark was quickly landed and just as quickly released. Although bigger blues are acceptable, the primary target on this trip was the mako, a strong swimmer that is being sought by an increasing number of Southern California fishermen.

Joe Rackley of Perris, a regular on the boat, was the first to land a mako. He hooked a 110-pounder that pulled him around the boat and up and down the deck. Using standard tackle--60-pound test line with a 250-pound test leader--Rackley had the fish to the boat in slightly more than 10 minutes. Deckhand Don Barker gaffed the fish and, with a mighty heave, hauled it aboard.

After that, a couple of small blues were caught, but then things slowed to a halt.

Vollaire, 26, made use of the two-hour lull between bites to snooze in the sun. After four hours of fishing on his first shark expedition, he had yet to hook up.

“I hate this tub,” he muttered after waking on his back in a puddle of sweat. A moment later the clicker alarm sounded on Vollaire’s reel.

He jumped up and set the hook with all the force he could muster. The shark offered a strong, though somewhat sluggish, fight, but Vollaire won the battle. His first mako was an 80-pounder.

The deckhands’ gaff, club and knife subdued the shark for a time, but passengers were advised to keep their distance and soon learned why.

While the disemboweled shark was doing its thing on the deck, Vollaire put its pulsating heart on his hook along with a slab of barracuda flesh--his own little experiment--and moments later hooked up with another mako, this one about 30 pounds heavier than the first. With his rod bent almost double, Vollaire raced about the boat and within 15 minutes had his second mako in the tank.

“I love this boat,” he said to his buddies. “We’ve got to come out again soon.”

Most aboard the California Dawn were on their first trip of this kind, fishing for perhaps the most feared predator of the sea. Some, perhaps even Vollaire, will become regulars.

“A good percentage of our customers are out for their first time and they usually need a little coaching,” Savino said. “But they usually do pretty good and come back for another try. . . . We now have about 20 regulars, and they love it.”

By the end of the day Rackley and Vollaire led all anglers, who had paid $30 apiece for the excursion, with two makos apiece. Each had enough shark steaks to fill a large freezer, and the going rate for mako flesh is more than $5 a pound.

Altogether there were seven makos and eight blue sharks caught, which, according to Savino, “wasn’t too bad a day.”

The biggest mako ever caught on Savino’s boat weighed 180 pounds, and once there was a 400-pound blue shark caught. Although none of this expedition’s fish were in that class, Savino said the ones they had were about average.

The California Dawn is one of the few party boats on which the shark is the primary target, and is perhaps the most popular. With the mako shark gaining in popularity, both among the hook-and-line set and as table fare, there probably will be more shark boats operating in the near future.

“We used to operate once a week,” Savino said. “Now we go out three days a week and book about two weeks in advance.”

There has also been an increase in tournaments and private charters for which the mako is targeted, and commercially the mako is being caught in record numbers.

Why all the interest?

According to Eddie DiRuscio, manager of Davey’s Locker Sportfishing, the mako shark has become a big-game attraction because it gives anglers a fight similar to that of a marlin.

“For the individual who can’t afford to charter a six-pack (private charter boat) and go after marlin, the shark provides a good alternative to big-game action,” he said. “You hook into a 100-pound-plus mako shark and it will flip and barrel-roll and pull line off your reel just as well as a marlin will.

“It is a big-game fish and it’s readily available. You don’t have to wait for a particular season like you do for tuna, broadbill or marlin. You can catch sharks year-round.”

Said Savino: “They’re very acrobatic. . . . They have the same tail design as the marlin. I’ve seen them jump 6-8 feet before.”

None of the makos caught on this particular day made it out of the water, until gaffed that is, and Savino attributed that to the change in water temperature.

“The water temperature dropped about one degree since yesterday. Any sudden drop in temperature tends to make the fish a bit sluggish,” he said.

The day before, Savino said, one customer’s shark jumped five times near the boat.

Another reason for the shark’s increasing popularity is the growing demand for shark meat. According to DiRuscio, shark tastes better than most fish.

“The mako right from the hook to the gaff is edible right there,” he said. “It’s every bit as good as the thresher shark and I think better than the swordfish and broadbill. You can serve mako and broadbill right next to each other and most people won’t know the difference.”

Said Dave Holts, Southern California fisheries biologist: “The mako has become much more popular in restaurants and the market in the last five years.”

Supporting his claim is the fact that in 1986 the commercial catch in California was upward of 456,000 pounds, almost double the 1985 catch.

Considering the growing popularity of shark fishing, local anglers’ catches seem a good bet to increase at an equally substantial rate in the near future.