Tampa Bay angler checked his stone crab traps. He caught something different
Captain Trae Sorensen of Top Knotch Fishing Charters spends nearly all his working days on the water.
“If I’m not fishing, I’m not making money,” explained the captain, who’s known for extreme offshore trips chasing deepwater species in the Gulf.
But Sorensen, a fourth-generation angler in the Tampa Bay area, has a slower season for fishing charters during winter months. He spends more time in shallow and nearshore waters targeting hogfish and snapper when fishing with hook and line, but when he’s not chartering, he’s pulling stone crab traps for the delicious claws of one of Florida’s most unique renewable resources.
“I run about 500 stone crab traps during the season. It’s been a slow year so far, but last blow, we pulled about a pound per trap,” Sorensen recalled.
Stone crabs are extremely structure oriented, hiding tight to rocks and ledges where they can barricade themselves and use their large claws for protection. They’re known to move more after cold fronts and bad weather, taking advantage of the dirtier water to make a stealthier journey.
During this time, they find the square traps that are often baited with fresh fish, pigs feet or other scent-heavy lures. Sometimes these scents bring strange visitors.
“Last Monday, I was pulling gear like we normally do. A trap from 45 feet came up, and I noticed something off was going on. There was a shark head in it!” said Sorensen. “I put a half a mullet in every trap. I think with the water getting cold the sharks are getting hungry. I’ve been crabbing for 14 years and never seen anything like this. No one I know has ever seen it either.”
The shark head was part of an aggressive sandbar shark, a species that’s been terrorizing Gulf anglers in recent years. It was completely severed behind the gills and was probably about 7 feet long before its demise.
“I think it smelled the mullet in the trap and it wanted to get the bait, breaking into the trap. Its gills got caught and stuck. Then he drowned. I pull traps every seven days, so somewhere in that time other sharks and scavengers came and ate it up. Everyone thinks it’s fake, but it’s not. The lid and side were broke off the trap, and somehow there was still a jumbo crab in there!”
The shark head did not turn into future crab bait either.
“I just threw it in the water, it stunk so bad of ammonia. Every day is a new adventure out there, you never know what you’ll run into,” Sorensen said.
Trae Sorensen can be reached through his website TopKnotchFishingCharters.com, by calling (727) 365-3600 or his booking number at (727) 798-3484.