Shark in the surf

[TubeDude]

[cool]Hey guys, if anyone is still thinking of tubin' for "Jaws", here's a pic that might make you rethink that plan.



I think that if that was me on that board, the water around me would be turning yellow.
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[DH_tubinjoe]

are you sure thats not a dolphin?????? I think the tail is horizontal. but Heck YA! my eyes would no longer be brown. I would have pooped it all out.




joe
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[TubeDude]

[cool]That was identified as a great white, in Australia. The dorsal fin is pointed. Dolphins are rounded. Also, it is hard to tell, but the tail does not look horizontal to me.

Whatever. I think it would be enough to have me walking on water...or running. I'd leave the identification to anyone else stupid enough to hang around and check it out.
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[lonehunter]

YELLOW WATER , BROWN SHORTS , AND SCREAMING LIKE A LITTLE GIRL AS I RAN ACROSS THE WATER'S TOP ALL THE WAY TO THE AIRPORT !

MY BRAVERY HAS IT'S LIMITS !
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[myu]

Hi-

I found this site for fishing. I am the only ocean float tube user in Okinawa Japan; many people call me crazy for using small inflatable in the ocean. I think if you have good knowledge of waters and creatures, you can be safe with what ever you have to do. I have read much information here already for hours today. I am also a surfer, kayaker, diver for many years and have some formal marine biology studies/computer science studies. I find this post most interesting because it combines my loves. This picture makes me scared first, but then I realize this is not a Chondrichthyes(shark), Carcharodon carcharias, or Great White Shark after I resize and sharpen the picture.

It’s a Cetacean (Dolphin), Tursiops truncatus, or common English name is "bottle nose".

These are reasons for conclusion. [ol] [li]Dolphins have dorsal fin shape like /( and Great white Shark have first dorsal fin like /|. [li]Great white shark does not surf; Bottlenose loves to surf and is often surfing with surfers or surfing bow waves from boats. Dolphins have fluke (tail fin) that gives positive buoyancy because of vertical forces are from horizontal fluke, shark has claudial fin (tail fin) that only gives horizontal forces. If dolphin surfs it can keep balance because of vertical fluke force, but shark can't keep balance because it only had horizontal claudial force or simply it does not have the correct hydrodynamics for surfing. [li]The dorsal fin of Dolphin is almost centered making head and tail look similar in length, The dorsal fin of shark is more forward and makes it have longer looking tail. [li]Sharks have a second dorsal fin between the main dorsal and claudial and on the bottom of the shark they have pelvic and anal fins, these are missing in this picture. Great Whites have larger claudial fin then dorsal. [li]Great White is easy to see because of gray top half and white bottom half with a distinct line. [li]Sharks Pectoral fin is very near under the first dorsal fin. Dolphins have flipper far forward and under compared to dorsal. [li][/semi-serious] the surfer is pointed in direction of the dolphin, if it was shark, he would be swimming in opposite direction back to safe beach.[/li][/ol]

If you surf or play in ocean for long time you will learn how to find if shark is near. I enjoy when dolphins surf in Okinawa, it scare all tourist surfer away so I have all waves for me![]
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Welcome to our forum, myu. We hope we can provide enough useful information to keep your interest.

You present a logical identification of the creature in the waves. As I stated, the original post of the picture was titled "surf shark", with a note that it was supposed to be a great white. The image is hazy and leaves the potential for misidentification. Here are some images of both, and we well leave it up to the members to decide which they think it might be. First, a white shark:



Then, the bottlenose dolphin:













You seem to be quite the adventurer and lover of water sports. We would be interested in reading of some of the species you catch and the methods you use. We would also like to know what type of equipment you use, and why you prefer it.

Although most float tube fishermen in the U.S.A. are fresh water anglers, there are an increasing number that take their tackle into salt water. Usually they have to become comfortable with their equipment and their own skills before they are brave enough to go where sharks live.

Thank you for registering and posting your comments. It is always good to have knowledgeable members to contribute to our discussions.
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[halibut]

Welcome Myu!

It is always good to hear from another fellow shark donut (saltwater tuber). I hope to hear of your adventures in the big salty over there in Japan, perhaps pictures as well. I have always wanted to know what you can catch over there. I have some ideas from books but pictures with people are always better and more up to date. Hope to hear more from you with your fishing reports.

Minh
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Minh, my friend, you need to practice what you preach. We need some reports and pics from you.

Has the doctor given you a release to launch your donut cruiser yet?

It has been two weeks since TubeBabe and I got out, but we are trying to fit a morning trip in on Friday. It has been so hot (116), that we may find only boiled fish.
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[halibut]

Usually I am the guy holding the camera (I believe at one point you were doing the same). Besides, I am not very photogenic, and apt to drive away potential board members. I am happy to stay in the towers of the cathedral. I have been so busy, I rarely get to wet a linefrom shore. who wants to know what I catch in So cal anyways... you've been here....haven't you? LOL... Alright...I will make an attempt to bring my digi cam with me on future fishing outings. I can tell you now... my stringers will not be anything like yours and TubeBabes...
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[TubeDude]

[cool]This is not a running fishing derby, nor a contest to see who is the most photogenic. We like to see the pictures posted by different members only as a means of learning more about each of us individually, and fishing in general.

I think I know you well enough by now to guess that fishing is a reward in itself. Catching fish, and taking pictures of them, is a nice part of a fishing trip, but not necessary to the enjoyment of just being on the water. (At least that is what I say when I do not catch any fish)

When you go to get your drivers' license, they tell you not to worry about your picture. They say "Some people want justice. Others want mercy". I sneaked a picture from the Baytubers' photo album, of Halibut holding a chunky calamari (squid). I definitely think our bashful forum member is better looking than the squid. Don't you think so?


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[halibut]

Nice squid....!!!!! who is da big ugly holding it? LOL.... TD they took that picture when I was lookin'. No fair! Pics on the way!!! I am not even going to try to get in the last word....[] I will be on the water soon... soon as mom gives me back my float tube!!! (just kidding)[crazy]
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[DH_tubinjoe]

hey man, where do you tube at??? from that picture that TD put up, it looks like bill's bait right there by cabrillo beach. I tubed that area once and got nothing but lizard fish, croaker, sand bass, and one shark. it was fun, but I dont know if it was worth it. the wind over there is horrible.

maybe we can hook up some time and go tube some bay or something together.




joe
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[halibut]

Hey TubinJoe!

Yup!!!! that is at cabrillo. before they moved the bait barge.. Man, that day in certain areas you could not drop your sardine down with out one of those squids eating it before it gets to the bottom... wished I had squid jigs that day. As soon as I get my next visit to the doctor, I will be out in the water again.... fingers crossed. I will post here and let you know.
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[myu]

Thank You everyone for the kind welcome!

I have still been reading some post from user here. There is very much information that is good for using small fishing vehicles. Tube Dude, you must be fishing master! You have very much good suggestions for other fishers here.

It takes me a very long time to find the common english names for fish that I catch in Okinawa. Any fish that is not poisonous or dangerous to catch is my target fish. This means that I target fish for over 50 kinds of fish, it's hard for me to even count. I eat my fish almost every day for meals. I love to fish not only for good taste but also for excitement of large fish that are very hard fighters. The danger in Okinawa is that there is over 40 types of fish here that are poisonous or dangerous, many tourist people have injuries or get poisoned from these dangerous fish. We have types that bite fingers off, we have types that give skin rash, we have types that have poison if you touch it, types that have poison if you eat it, and we have many types of sharks. You can try to target certain types of fish by the type of tackle that you use, but you will never really know what type will enjoy your tackle. There are many other dangers in ocean fishing in Okinawa, most fisher with no experience has danger from tides, currents, waves, jelly fish, urchins and coral rash. So please be careful in oceans in Okinawa.

I fish usually with 3 types of tackle set from small crafts.

I make lures from woods and other materials like plasitc and also paint them. This takes much time and it makes you feel much pain when you lost or cannot retrieve your lure, maybe sometimes you may even cry when you find needle fish or barracuda and you must cut your line and say goodbye to your lure, but I find that catching good fish on lure that you make is very wonderful feeling. In Japan there are many many very nice lure to buy, but the cost of this lure is very expensive, some are cheap in US$5.00, but good lure cost US$25. I only use these types of lure when friends give them to me as gift or if my local fishing store owner wants me to try lure for him, if we like the lure, then he will buy them for customers in his store, when we don't like lures he will not sell them in his store.

I also use live bait in 2 ways, one way is what you call 'drop shot' and another way is with a multiple hook line. Drop shot is when I fish up to 50 meters deep.Multiple hook line is good for shallow waters. Multiple hook line is technical because you use bottom type bait on bottom hook, and bait fish that swim just above bottom on next hook, fish that swims in middle on middle hook etc....sometimes I use 6 or 8 hooks for 1 line with interval depending on target fish. I use many types of live baits, it is fish that I catch that day that are small or fish that I use throwing net for, there is not many place to buy fish as bait in Okinawa so buying bait fish is like buying fish as food, so it is expensive to buy. You must join Okinawa fishing association to use net. I think fish have taste like human, they eat the same good taste fishes that we eat.

I also use some fishing boat technique when I can use my friends boat with large motors for deep sea trolling. But usually I fish from float tube and kayak. It depends on conditions and many other things, kayak has advantage if you are in strong currents or have long distance, float tube has advantage if you have no currents or winds and short distance. Since I find this site I am constructing Sonar and Rod holder for these. We do not have many choices of buying hardware in Okinawa, so I usually make orders from mainland Japan. Okinawa has very nice reef shelf that drops to over 100 meter very fast, so I use GPS mapping software to keep good information on where fish is waiting.

I have tried to Upload attachment, showing my poor art skill. I have tried to show my conclusion on the surfing picture because my words are sometimes confusing to even myself and I typed them.

[JapanRon]

Hey there myu,

I lived in Okinawa for 6 years and fished from up past Yanbaru to Hetona Point to down south past Itoman and everywhere in between. I used to ride the katsuo boats out of Sakurazaka-cho in Naha.

There are a couple of really good books published in Japanese that have the Japanese names, scientific names and good English translations of the fish in Japan. The best one has a blue cover, is less than A4 size and the title is Sakana Daizu(kan). The Sakana is written in hiragana and the Daizu(kan) is written in Kanji. I've lent this book out so I don't have the details at hand but will let you know more if you don't have this outstanding publication. There's pictures for every single fish and the paper and print is top quality. I believe it costs 8,600 yen about 10 years ago.

JapanRon
a.k.a. tsurikichi
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[TubeDude]

[cool]That was a very interesting and informative post, myu. I envy your wide choice of fishing targets, but I am glad that I do not have to deal with so many problems in finding bait and fishing tackle. It sounds like you have it mostly worked out, though. You are creative and resourceful.

It is good that you have access to different fishing methods...boats, kayaks and float tubes. There are conditions when each will work better than the others, as you have discovered. And, as you also point out, pay attention to those conditions and do not put yourself at risk by taking unnecessary chances.

From your description of the types of fish in the area, I am assuming that you are in a subtropical situation, with warm waters and the types of fishes that live in them. It sounds a lot like the warm waters of the Sea of Cortez, down in Mexico, only about 4 hours from where I live in Phoenix, Arizona. I take my float tubes down there and fish the shallow inshore reefs for about fifty different species too. I use mostly lures, but often add a piece of fish meat for extra flavor. Just as with your waters, in the Sea of Cortez there are many species of fish that are dangerous to handle or to eat. It is like gathering mushrooms. You should know what to keep and what to leave alone.

You seem to have a good grasp of the English language. Maybe we can help you learn more "fishing English". You have probably discovered that we have many "slang" terms for fishing that can be confusing to both new fishermen and people who use English as a second language. Our member, JapanRon is currently working on a very large list of slang terms, for the BFT main website. You will probably find it entertaining.

I am glad to hear that you enjoy making your own lures too. I have been tying fishing flies since I was a small boy...and now I am a large old man. I pour and paint all of my own leadhead jigs, I make spinners and I also hand carve a variety of wooden lures. I do not know if I am saving any money...if I consider how much my valuable time is worth...but I know that I catch fish on my lures and gain a lot of personal satisfaction from that. Maybe we can exchange some pictures and ideas for lure making.

I know that there are many manufacturers of good quality fishing equipment and lures in Japan. However, for some of the items you need to buy, it may be better to purchase through internet suppliers. I am sure that Cabelas, BassPro and others well sell and ship their merchandise interntionally. Do you have their website addresses, or have you previously tried to buy anything from them? I have links available to many U.S. websites for a wide variety of fishing tackle. I can provide those if you would like me to.

Lastly, have you figured out how to use the BFT Private Message feature on this site? If not, I will send you a "PM" and you can respond. It will appear as a notice on your email server, and you click on the link. Then you merely reply as you would with any email. If you want to send PM first, you click on the "name" (TubeDude) for anyone you want to sent to. There will be a member profile box appear. You then go to the bottom on the right side and there is a button for "Send Private Message". When you click on that, you will have the blank screen to write your message. Click on the send button when you are ready.

If you wish to attach pictures to your posts, bo to the bottom of the page and look for "Browse". When you click on that, you can go through your computer files to find the picture or other file you want to attach. Click on "open". That will put the file in the ready position on your post. Now, click on "Upload Attachment" and your file will be attached. You can check on that by looking at the bottom of your post...under Attachments.

If you have a website upon which you can post pictures, you can copy and paste them directly from your website. If you would like to set up a website, you can make a free one on BFT. Instructions are under the Home button or under Resources. You do not have to fill it up with a lot of text. You can use it strictly for uploading and editing pictures to post on the forum.

Well, it looks like my reply was as long as your post. But, as you know if you have read many of our threads, I do tend to write a lot. I hope we can be of some help to you.
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Hey, Ron, I was hoping you might drop in and offer some assistance to myu. Given your years of living and working in his part of the world, and your knowledge of the language and customs, I thought you could provide a good bridge for any areas of potential problems in understanding.

It would seem that our little forum is becoming international, with recent responses from Canada and Great Britain...and now from Okinawa.

From your posts on the California board, it looks like you have been keeping busy with the basses.

Jealousy............!!!!!
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[DH_tubinjoe]

Ok, this really has nothing to do with the topic, but, aren't the shimano trinidad reels silver in japan, and how much do they cost over there???




joe
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[myu]

'tsurikichi'[laugh]

Did you live here for Military? Are you Nihonjin or Okinawan(some Okinawan don't think they are Nihonjin[laugh])?

I made my first fishing related friend from Military Yesterday. He also enjoys Kayaking so we will make good memories in the future. I have many Military friends but they are only are freak about surfing or diving. I also have good friends who works at bases.

You must have fished many many places to fish everywhere inbetween. I still have much places that I have not fished yet. I hope in the future I will try everywhere in Okinawa.

I live in Yomitan, I don't like the city(we pronounce 'shitty') area. It is so crowded and I think temperatures are hotter in city. I also dont like cement/concrete typhoon resistant houses, so I live in old wood house. It does not get so humid and it is cooler temperature. It gets me nervous when typhoons come. My best feature is my house is only 75 meters from clean private beach. So I can paddle to places like Maeda Misaki in only 15 minutes and fish waters that is 50 meters deep. If I paddle in south west in direction of Bolo I can fish waters that is deeper in only 10 minutes. I love my home and my areas. I have many free sugar canes and good fruits!!!

You can also understand how many types of fish we have. It is hard to describe sometimes with words that we have so many types. Thank you for the suggestions on books, I will go to tatsutaya and look for these today!!!
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[myu]

Tube Dude,

Thank you again for your replies.

You have so much knowledge and you have good writing skill. I recieved Private messase from you with attatchments, they are very logical. I will try some of your tactics for lures and others.

I have been tying flies also, but I have not had very good experience with flies for salt water fishes, I got addicted for fly fishing in Canada and America. I want to try more fly fishing in Okinawa but the equipment and methods are not so popular and they are very expensive. Fly fishing is something I play with after I catch nice dinner fishes already with normal tackles.

I sometimes think I should buy top brand lure that costs average $25 because some of these are good lures and will catch good smart fish. But I think any fisherperson or tourist can buy lures, some tourist even buy some of Japanese 'Premium' lures that cost $75 for multi-hinge types, and it only takes money to buy them but it takes patients, skill, knowledge to create your own lure. I do spend many hours sometimes on 1 lure, some lure takes me a few days, so I think I also do not save money by making my lure, but the joy is a hobby and all hobby cost money and time. I get excited after I compete a lure and I go try it, its not as fun to buy lure and open it from package and go try it.

I think that I have much to learn, Japanese fishermen are very smart fisherman and they make very good tackle and equipment here, It seems to me that many Japanese companies brings different equipments to America. I have notice that Daiwa and Shimano have almost different lines of equipments as I compared Japanese sites to American sites, we also have many brands that are not in America.

I have never been thinking before to take pictures of fishing, because I fish almost everyday. What type of picture do you fisher people take?
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