Surfboard fishing helps land a big one

In the summertime, if 22-year-old Taylor Thornton isn’t in the ocean, he isn’t himself. The West Chester University senior has focused his studies on nutrition and food science in the classroom, but the knowledge he’s acquired through his experience on the water is something he could never get at school. He’s found a way to meld his love for both surfing and fishing into an exhilarating sport, and this past week alone, he landed six sharks in South Bethany – one nearly 7 feet in length and weighing more than 200 pounds.

“It’s definitely a rush,” said Thornton. “There’s no feeling like landing a big shark out there.”

Equipped with the hook from a pole on the shore, he will paddle out on his longboard, beyond where a cast line will reach, and drop the bait and wait.

“I can get out there about 300 yards and let it go,” he said. Typically, his sister and brother-in-law will be manning the pole back on the beach.

On Wednesday, they didn’t know quite what they were in for. It didn’t take long before a massive sandbar shark grabbed hold of the tuna waiting on the hook.

“It took us 45 minutes to bring it in,” he said. “When we pulled it onto the beach, I thought it was a ragged-tooth, after seeing all of its teeth. Some of them were an inch and a half to 2 inches long.”

After battling with the furious fish, Thornton snapped some pictures and released it back to the waters.

“It must have been at least 8 years old,” he said. “I make sure we get pictures, but we always let them go again. I do this for the sport. I appreciate the animal for what it is. This is evolution at its finest.”

Throughout the past week, Thornton and his family pulled in five other sharks, including dusky sharks and another sandbar shark. The sandbar shark – most notable for its peculiarly tall dorsal fin – is native to the Atlantic. Juveniles are most commonly found in the lower Chesapeake Bay.

“I’ve been in the ocean ever since I can remember,” recalled Thronton, “and I started surfing as soon as I could stand. When you’re out in the water that much, you see sharks plenty of times, and, usually, they don’t bother you. But when you do pull something in that big, somewhere you go to every day, it’s definitely a little spooky.”

He will be finishing up his studies this coming spring at West Chester but still can’t get enough of the Delaware coast.

“I’ve been coming to my grandparents’ place in South Bethany for years,” said the York, Pa., native. “I’ve grown up on the salt water. I had even considered switching majors at one point to something with the ocean. I love it here.”