Damn Good Blacktip Shark Fishing Charters

The best blacktip shark fishing charters are:

• Fish Hunter Fishing Charters guided by George H. with 45 years of experience
• Top Notch Sportfishing guided by Bill G. with 22 years of experience
• Short Skirts Sportfishing guided by Hayden M.
• A Live One guided by Blair W.
• Fish The Salt Guide Service guided by Tim D.

Our Damn Good Guides currently offer 89 blacktip shark trips, and the most popular trips are Sebastian Inlet On Light Tackle guided by Greg, St Petersburg Inshore Fishing!!! guided by George, and Clearwater Inshore/Nearshore guided by Cameron.

Our guides are rated a 4.93 out of 5 based on 9603 verified reviews on Captain Experiences.

All guides on Captain Experiences are vetted by our team. You can access their reviews, click through trip photos, read bios to get to know them, and preview trip details like species, techniques, group sizes, boat specs and more.

Looking for kid friendly blacktip shark guides / fishing lessons? Check out our beginner and family friendly blacktip shark guides.

Deep Sea fishing is the most popular type of fishing for blacktip shark as well as inshore fishing, nearshore fishing, and flats fishing.

The most common fishing techniques are light tackle fishing, bottom fishing, and live bait fishing but heavy tackle fishing and cut bait fishing are popular as well.

Prices for blacktip shark can range anywhere from about $600 to $3,300, but the average price for a half day trip for blacktip shark is $1,059. The average price for a full day trip for blacktip shark is $2,185.

Hiring a guide provides a number of benefits and many choose to book a fishing guide for a combination of experience, local knowledge, convenience, and cost-effectiveness.

Working with experienced fishing guides who know the best local spots and techniques can dramatically increase your odds of a great day. Having someone who is on the water every day and knows the area like the back of their hand is going to give you the best chances of success.

Booking a guide is also more cost effective, especially if you only get out a handful of times per year. When you consider all of the costs you would incur on your own such as the price of a boat, maintenance, insurance, gas, high-quality gear and tackle, repairs, and more, you’ll find that DIY is sometimes not worth the expense.

Even if you’ve got a great setup already in your home waters, booking a guide also provides a great opportunity to experience new techniques, new locations, or even a chance at a new target species to knock off the bucket list.

The most popular season for blacktip shark fishing is summer, and most anglers book their trips 18 days in advance.

See here for more information on blacktip shark fishing licenses, blacktip shark bag limits, and fishing season regulations for blacktip shark. When in doubt, your guide will always know all the relevant blacktip shark rules and regulations.

The blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) are a type of requiem shark, which means they are migratory and live-bearing. They are known to have a very timid personality, but are also very swift and energetic swimmers, often making leaps out of the water to attack their prey with their jaws full of 15 rows of serrated teeth.

They have a stout body, pointed snout, small eyes and long gill slits. Their name comes from the black tips on their fins, but they are otherwise gray to brown on top, and white on their bellies with a white stripe along their side. They also have a very strong sense of smell.

The average blacktip shark will grow to about five feet. This makes them a pretty moderately sized shark, but don’t let this fool you, they are well known for shark attacks. Although not lethal attacks, they are known to get aggressive around a potential food source, causing injury.

The largest blacktip shark ever caught was a female weighing in at 270 pounds and 9 ounces, and 6.8 feet long. After a hard-fight it was put in the boat by Jurgen Oeder in September 1984, out of the waters of Malindi Bay, Kenya, Africa.

Blacktip sharks can be found in tropical and subtropical waters in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. The Atlantic has especially high numbers in Massachusetts, North Carolina, and the Gulf of Mexico, near Texas and Florida depending on their seasonal migration.

When within these areas, you can typically find blacktips in water less than 100 feet deep, nearshore. They prefer muddy bays, island lagoons, and drop-offs near coral reefs. They can also be found in brackish waters like estuaries and mangrove swamps.

Due to their seasonal migration, the best time to catch them will depend on the location and season. During the summer, they can be found north towards North Carolina and Massachusetts, travelling back towards Florida in the winter months. In the Gulf of Mexico, they can found year round, but are known to be best to catch in March.

Blacktip sharks are not very picky when it comes to bait. They are of course attracted to chumming, but will also go after most live and dead bait, lures, and flies. Due to their ferocious fight, a braided line is highly recommended, as well as a wire leader to avoid breakage.

The most highly recommended procedure after setting your lines is to chum the area with a paste made of mackerel and herring, or to use live sardines. The smellier the better, thanks to their high sense of smell, they will be on the way!

Many do enjoy blacktip shark, as it is much more tender than most other shark, but it is recommended to be bled and iced immediately upon capture for the best taste. It is also known to spoil quickly, so be sure to eat it the same day if possible.

To cook, salt and pepper it, and then sautee for a few minutes on each side. Taste it, and judge the fat content. If it is lean, cook it less to avoid drying out, then add a squeeze of lemon and brown butter. If more fat, increase the heat to blacken and then grill it.