Year of the Dusky

Some fish fascinate people more than others. A few species seem capable of casting spells on the anglers who revere them. The speckled trout serves as the main source of obsession for some citizens of the Lone Star State. Across the globe, in the cobalt depths of the open ocean, others feel a kind of magic when they think of the mighty blue marlin.

Personally, I'm enthralled by a particularly elusive devil of a shark. Some might surmise I'm thrilled by one of the two biggest species of sharks which frequent Texas waters—the tiger or the great hammerhead. Others might guess my wonder fish is a monster mako. But, while these sharks all hold special places in my heart, they don't rank at the top of my list of favorites.

Throughout the seasons, a wide variety of sharks visit the nearshore waters off the Texas coast. Some stick around longer than others, and some are more abundant than others; a few occur only quite rarely. My research indicates Texas anglers have landed about 15 species of sharks from our beaches. Of these, one rare species with a partially appropriate Latin name, piques my interest more than the others—the dusky shark, aka (Carcharhinus obscurus).

Dusky sharks typically prowl the waters far offshore. They're capable of attaining impressive size; anglers have landed specimens measuring up to about 14 feet in length and weighing over 700 pounds. The current world record is 764 pounds. Because the species is federally protected, this mark might stand the test of time.

Like sandbar sharks, dusky sharks prefer cool water. In Florida, during the winter months, anglers hook decent numbers of them in the shallows lying close to the panhandle, one of the prime locations in the Gulf to catch a dusky, mako, or even a great white during cold weather. Conversely, anglers in Texas are unlikely to encounter a dusky during winter; we have our rare shots at the species when abnormal cold-water upwellings occur during the summer months.

Every few years, a strange anomaly affects the nearshore waters of Texas. All these events happen between June and August, after strong south winds have blown for extended periods of time. The persistent breezes stir strong currents which trend northward along the sandy margin where the land meets the sea, pulling cool water from the depths to replace the normally warm water close to the beach.

During the hot season, when the water on the beachfront runs a whopping 10 to 13 degrees below average, seemingly crazy events occur. In this scenario, the churning water typically turns murky, driving many of the fish either up or down the coast, or offshore. Most forage species flee from the cool, dirty water, and with so little available food in the surf, predators become scarce.

While most other sharks move out of the shallows when the water turns brown and cold, the dusky sharks move in. Perhaps they arrive in search of some kind of specific prey, or perhaps they come strictly for mating purposes. All the dusky sharks encountered during these events are mature adults. Regardless of the answers to the questions about why these sharks prefer water like this, savvy sharkers realize their chances of catching a dusky in Texas improve dramatically in such situations.

In the realm of Texas land-based sharking, dusky sharks rank in the upper echelon of rare species. Until a few years ago, only a few Texas anglers had reported landing one from the surf. More recently, with the cold-water upwelling events increasing in frequency, a greater number of anglers have reported catching duskys.

I landed my first one almost 10 years ago. Extraordinarily rare, this was the first catch publicly documented since Billy Sandifer and his client caught a dusky back in the 90s. On the 9'6" specimen I landed; I attached a satellite tag for the Harte Research Institute. After this memorable event, several years passed before another angler dragged a dusky onto the sand of the Texas surf.

Then, roughly six years ago, conditions similar to the ones we're experiencing this summer prevailed. When this happened, the dusky sharks came back around in numbers. I remember a single trip from that year on which we beached five! The largest of those, a 10'10" monster, stood at the time as the largest dusky confirmed as caught from the Texas surf. Several of my friends caught smaller specimens during that unforgettable run. This year, anglers landed more of these prized predators, when the cold water lingered longer than ever before.

2023's unprecedented cold-water upwelling event started in June and lasted all the way into August. On South Padre Island, my friend Joel Ybarra and his clients landed multiple large specimens during June. Then in July, on North Padre, a record number of dusky sharks were landed by many of my friends, all mature adults measuring up to over 11 feet and weighing several hundred pounds. Even when calmer weather returned in August, people continued to catch an occasional dusky.

During this historic run, most anglers used jackfish to tempt dusky sharks to take a bite; only a small number bit stingrays. Most likely, a related phenomenon, the presence of massive balls of menhaden just offshore during these events, spurs this truth. Jack crevalle feast on large menhaden, and are often abundant during times like these, whereas warmer water favors larger amounts of smaller dusky anchovies, rather than the menhaden, breaking the link in the food chain, atop which the duskys reign.

Surely, the abundance of appropriate prey and the cold water comprise two of the main magic ingredients which lead to anglers landing numbers of dusky sharks in Texas. These brutes provide about every elixir to quench a shark angler's thirst. Like supersized blacktips on steroids, these long, sleek sharks have large, wide mouths, replete with teeth. Their rarity adds to their mystique and makes them a truly prized catch among the people in my community. With so many dreams fulfilled, 2023 will certainly be remembered as the year of the dusky!