Fishing for blue sharks from a three metre boat in 20 foot swells, eight miles from shore, might sound unthinkable; but that’s just how Jake Davison likes it
UK big game fishing is a weird fascination of mine. From the moment I started boat fishing, I have always wanted to target the biggest and most brutally strong fish that the UK has to offer. But it has to be done in my own boat and on my own terms. Around three years ago I owned a small inflatable boat (SIB). I fished quite regularly on this and those of you that follow my YouTube channel, Muscle Fishing, will have seen some of the fishing adventures I have been on. The issue with this boat is that it’s, well, an inflatable: not good for the sort of fishing I had in mind and planned to do in the long run. My dreams of an upgrade were to be realised when I was in discussions with Polycraft and its UK distributor Mareta. Fast forward a month or so and I had a new boat, the Polycraft 300 Tuffy. A perfect little vessel that would enable me to take on more adventurous missions. After several sea trials, it proved to tick all the right boxes. It was durable, strong, stable, easy to launch and great to fish from. It was, in short, a perfect match!
HATCHING A PLAN
My very good friend Will and I have a shared mad passion for angling and doing the unthinkable and unimaginable. This friendship therefore flourished and we soon planned to go and target blue shark in Cornwall.
Blue sharks generally like a big depth of water under them, and 200 feet is considered the minimum you want to be targeting them in. Loading up Navionics at home, I found some good-looking marks not far from where we were going to launch our boat from. They were between 8-10 miles out. Of course, Cornish seas can be unforgiving and change their mood quickly. Being in a three-metre open boat was therefore going to require a sensible weather window.
With passable conditions confirmed, kilos upon kilos of chum made, and two excited lads at the ready, it was time to drive to Cornwall and begin our sharking adventure. All the preparations had been made and all we needed was good weather and kind seas!
We arrived on Saturday and the wind wasn’t particularly favourable. However, the sun was shining and with a bit of good luck the winds calmed towards the evening. Our base camp had been set up and we were eager to get out and secure some good, local fresh bait for the Sunday. We set the boat up and went to sea. Fishing near the shore, we managed a bucket load of scad, mackerel and herring – ideal to kickstart our session the next day. Sunday’s wind forecast was far from ideal, but we were due to meet up with a local chap at 6
