We're in a technologically advancing world, most noticeable by my lack of ability to keep up with it. Even sports as straightforward as fishing seem to be advancing now. We got to see this first hand last weekend at a Drone Fishing competition where there were 20 poles lining the shore fishing for Bronze Whaler sharks. The second most difficult part of shore fishing (right behind reeling in the shark) is getting the line and bait far enough out to pass the breaking water. Without technology this used to mean wading in the surf up to their neck and casting as far as possible before walking back to land. Now that drones are a thing, they can sit comfortably in their chair and simply fly their line out and hit a release switch. The weights on these lines can be heavy and they're also carrying some big fish or even live fish for the bait. To carry that much weight up to 400m away takes a bit of power and they often have to replace the battery after just one flight.
Like normal fishing, it's all a waiting game. To pass the time, we do as South Africans do and braai (South African version of a BBQ). This generally includes some amazing sausages and other slabs of meat cooked over coals. The sauces we generally put on them are about the same but with a few alterations. The BBQ sauce here is different (probably should've known) but still good. I don't really know how to describe the difference though and the sauce itself isn't that common. Ranch also does not exist which is a bigger deal than you would think. Ketchup is called tomato sauce and varies by the restaurant but is very common. One restaurant near our harbor has tomato sauce that looks like sweet and sour sauce and tastes like there's vinegar in it. In general the food is great though and there is always plenty of meat.
Back to sharks though. When a shark does get caught on the line, the best way to tell is that either the line will start running or the pole will start to bend, or both. Some of the fishermen have gotten so good that they can predict what type of shark and the size of it that's on the line just from trying to reel it in. These fights can last over an hour for the big ones and is not uncommon. Rays have been known to get caught as well which are also strong fighters. Kelp is the next challenge, with their strong holdfasts gluing them to the rocks. We had one fight for 20 minutes that ended up being a bunch of kelp (and a hagfish).
Once the shark is in the surf, a couple brave souls follow the line out to find where the shark is. They then help pull it onto the shore just at the water line. A wet towel promptly gets put over its eyes and gills to help calm it down while the head and tail is held down. From there we measure its total length (nose to tip of tail), pre-caudal length (nose to start of tail), and interdorsal length (between the 2 dorsal fins). For further research, we tag the shark with a spaghetti tag (a spaghetti shaped piece of plastic with an ID number and phone number on it) so if the shark is ever found again, we can tell how it's grown and where it's moving to. A small sample is taken from its dorsal fin to test its DNA. We also note down the sex and maturity of the shark, the size of hook and type of bait used, how long it took to reel it in, and how long it was out of the water before we released it. All of this is done as fast as possible so we can get the animal back into the water safely.
Throughout the 7 hour competition, 4 sharks were caught and tagged. This job requires at least 4 people, 2 to hold the shark, 1 to take measurements, and 1 to write everything down. With a team of 5, it's very doable. As long as we only get one shark at a time. There was one hour that two fishermen had a shark on their lines which required us to split up. Luckily, one person reeled the shark in sooner than the other so we took the measurements down as fast as possible and ran to the other shark (felt like it was a mile away and easily could have been). No matter how many sharks we catch, we get to spend the day on the beach and even just one shark is enough excitement to last us a while.
Now that I've explained how we do all of this, I feel the need to add: Do Not try this at home.
