Shore angler catches … a whaaaat?
Jaws reference aside, Cape Cod resident Hans Brings is no stranger to hooking and landing oddball species from the beach during the wee hours of the night. Each summer, Brings spends just about every evening with a line in the water, soaking baits like eels, and bluefish and bonito chunks with the intention of catching brown sharks on the south side of Cape Cod. With so many hours of shore-based shark fishing under his belt, it comes as no surprise that eventually, Brings would encounter some summer exotics. This is not the first time he’s reeled in a southern surprise. In the summer of 2023, Brings caught and released a 5-foot tarpon in the surf during one of his nightly shark outings. This time around, he managed to reel in another summer visitor — a juvenile tiger shark.
Brings, who recently graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a BS in Animal Science, spends his days working at Blue Stream Aquaculture—a trout farm in Barnstable, MA. By night, he’s on the beach, often handling much larger, saltier, and toothier fish. The evening of July 20 began like any other summer night. Brings’ family owns property within sight (and reach) of sand; so close, in fact, that he set up a rod holder on the back deck to shark fish more comfortably. That night, he and some family friends were sitting around the fire when his rod tip began to bounce. “The initial eat wasn’t very strong,” said Brings. “The rod was moving a ton but the drag hadn’t budged, so I assumed it was a dogfish or something.” When he picked up the rod — a 12-foot heavy Penn Prevail — the fish went on a couple of small runs before quickly changing course and swimming toward him. That’s when he had the sneaking suspicion that maybe this wasn’t a pesky smooth hound playing with his bait.
Acting fast, Brings raced from the deck down to the beach while rapidly cranking line back onto the reel — his trusty Fin-Nor 10500, which is spooled with 80-pound-test braided line. “By the time I got on the beach, the shark was only 40 to 50 feet out in the surf,” he said. “My friends were shining lights on the water so I could see the shark in the distance. The entire fight lasted only about 4 minutes, and half the battle was keeping tension in the line as the fish was running toward me.” With the shark now in the wash, Brings passed off the rod so he could land it. He noted that it was much darker in color than the typical sandbar sharks he is used to catching. But it wasn’t until one of his friend’s lights caught the fish that they realized it was a juvenile tiger shark.
Brings made quick work of removing the 11/0 hook — which had been baited with a 12-inch eel — from the shark’s razor-filled maw as onlookers snapped photos and videos. The rig consisted of a 6-foot-long, 300-pound-test monofilament leader attached to a 2-foot length of 170-pound-test wire to eliminate the chance of breaking off. Brings estimated the shark to be about 4-feet-long and 60 to 70 pounds. Despite its size, Brings described the fish as “insanely aggressive.” “I was trying to handle it for a photo but it kept swinging its head around, trying to bite me. I could see that the teeth were much sharper than those of a brown (sandbar) shark.”
Tiger sharks are not to be confused with sand tiger sharks, which are native to coastal waters in the Northeast. According to NOAA, tigers prefer warm water temperatures of 72 degrees or higher, which is why they spend most of their lives in the central/southern Atlantic between Florida and North Carolina. However, recent data from NOAA’s Cooperative Shark Tagging Program indicate that tiger sharks are arriving in northeast shelf waters earlier each year, and are rapidly expanding their range north. At this time, southern Massachusetts is the northernmost extent of their range, so while tiger sharks are not unheard of on the beaches of Cape Cod, they are still rare. But that could be changing. Cami McCandless, a research lead for NOAA Fisheries’ Apex Predators Program, says tiger sharks are “… spending more time in northern latitudes due to ocean warming.”
After snapping a few quick photos, Brings released the shark in disbelief. “It was pretty chaotic,” he added. “But I’ve heard of larger tiger sharks being landed on the south side in the past.” In August of 2024, angler Brendan Ryder of Massachusetts caught and released a juvenile tiger shark from the south side of Cape Cod after spending seven hours soaking baits in the surf. Brings’ catch serves as a reminder that our fisheries will continue to change in the years to come, especially as ocean temperatures warm. As surprised as he was to catch a tiger in his own backyard, it’s safe to say this won’t be the last time a shore-based shark fishermen hauls one onto Cape Cod sand.
