Sharks on a Fly [November2007]

Jeff Currier's Artwork

At the Denver Sportsmen’s show several years ago I ran into my good friend Jeff Currier. He was working on a watercolor. I knew Jeff was talented; however I did not know that he was a gifted artist. He was applying the final spots on a Snake River Cutthroat that was the best trout painting I had ever seen. I begged him to sell it to me, and he did but with a look on his face like, “I can actually sell my paintings?” Since that day I have commissioned Jeff to paint at least 15 more fish. The paintings are as good as it gets. I could not be more pleased, and they make my fishing room a real work of art.
- John S. Barr, Boulder, CO

Jeff Currier's Fly Fishing Adventures
"Chasing Sharks with a Fly Rod"

In November 2007, Jeff traveled to Southern California to fish in the blue waters for sharks.

Blue sharks are among the world’s most common and widely distributed sharks, and are commonly seen far out at sea, as well as occasionally in coastal waters. Known for their phenomenal migratory abilities, some individuals have been known to swim thousands of miles between continents in just a few months.

Blue sharks are popular sport fish and are commonly targeted by anglers from boats. But the real threat to them is from commercial fishing boats, which are estimated to catch as many as 20 million blue sharks a year, often while fishing for other species. Many of the fins used for shark’s fin soup in Asia come from blue sharks.

The Blue Shark is recognized by its distinctively colored slender body with a conical snout, and long, scythe-like pectoral fins. It has five gill slits, a heterocercal tail, large circular eyes and a first dorsal fin that is much larger than the second.

It is the most wide-ranging shark species, being recorded in all tropical and temperate seas.

The Blue Shark eats mainly fish and cephalopods such as squid. Baby Blue Sharks are nourished via a yolk sac placenta, and are born at a length of 35-50cm. Adults grow to 3.83m.

This species is sometimes confused with the Shortfin Mako Shark (Isurus oxyrinchus). The Blue Shark however has smaller gill slits, longer pectoral fins and serrated teeth.


	Click the icon for close up view or to DOWNLOAD These stories are in their raw and unedited format, as sent from internet cafes, from far flung reaches of the earth ...

	Currier's Personal Journal, November 2007 - It's been awhile since many of you have heard from the Granny and I. Unfortunately, that's because we have been working too damn much! Since you last heard from us in May when we returned from Egypt, we got buried with the busiest retail summer season ever in Jackson Hole. We didn't do anything drastic like start working through our days off, but nonetheless ...

Jeff Currier's Fly Fishing Adventures "Chasing Sharks with a Fly Rod"

Jeff Currier's Fly Fishing Adventures
"Chasing Sharks with a Fly Rod"