 |
Here is another good tope shark. This one was caught boat fishing off Moeraki in North Otago. |
In my experience the school shark is more commonly caught surfcasting around the South Island during the summer months. Specimens taken surfcasting along the Canterbury coast are usually the same size as the more common spiny dogfish. Tope grow much bigger than spiny dogfish. Large specimens can reach two metres in length and weigh as much as 35 kg. The easiest way to distinguish this shark from the similar looking smoothhound is that the tope is able to close its eye with a membrane which moves over the eye from the bottom like an eyelid. Dogfish, like almost all boney fishes, cannot close their eyes!
A large tope can fight quite strongly when hooked on light line hence the reason it is regarded by the International Game Fish Association as a game fish. Here is a big tope weighing 16.7 kg caught from the vessel Topgun in the upper North Island and weighed at the Whangaroa Big Gamefish Club. However it certainly does not fight in the same league as a mako or thresher shark.
I have caught some quite big tope over the years between Birdlings Flat and Dorie just south of Christchurch . Large females come in close to shore to give birth to 30cm long live young over summer. Most of the big ones caught are females. The smaller tope caught surfcasting are juveniles that remain inshore until they grow large enough to move out into deeper water where they school by size.
Fresh mackerel and yellow-eyed mullet are good baits for tope. Any oily fish is best but squid is also good tope bait. Use heavy monofilament or thin wire traces to avoid being bitten off. Tope have triangular teeth designed for holding small fish. They mostly feed on live schooling baitfish such as pilchards and mullet. I have read that they are known to jump when hooked but I have never seen this.
Tope fillets are sold in shops as white fish or flake. You have probably eaten quite a bit of tope over the years as it is one of the main species used in shops sold as fish and chips.
Huge 21 kg tope taken surfcasting on the Canterbury coast east of Ashburton.
Here is another tope or school shark taken surfcasting at Birdlings Flat, Canterbury.
More pictures of a big tope shark. See two big rig sharks caught surfcasting at Kaikoura. Surfcasting at Amberley Beach, Birdlings Flat, Surfcasting at Night, A big sting-ray caught at Lyttelton Harbour, Surfcasting at Bethels Beach.
New Zealand Sea Fishes |
