# Escambia River BullSharks



## CatHunter

It wont be long before the big females start their migration up river. Does anybody besides be every try to catch them in the river?


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## JD7.62

I sure as shit would like to give it a shot! Are they making it up to pure fresh?


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## osborne311

JD7.62 said:


> I sure as shit would like to give it a shot! Are they making it up to pure fresh?


I spent some time near Memphis before moving here. Almost every other year there was one sighted or caught near there in the MS river.

Bulls can go very far into fresh and have no issue doing so.


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## FishWalton

If they go up the Escambia River they may go up the Choctawhatchee River, but I have never heard anyone mention it. When I was a kid we used to catch a lot of small sharks around the delta area but the water was much more salty then than today.


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## CatHunter

Go down to Jims fish camp take a look at the photo wall. Its covered in bull shark photos from the lower end of Escambia. From the Power Plant down to about hwy 90 bridge they pile up around August in certain areas.


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## kevin32435

Hey Fish Walton is that the Choctawhatchee Delta I have seen Dolphins up to Dunwood Lake so I am sure sharks can make it there and further upriver


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## CatHunter

This one was just caught on some river here in the south, 70 miles from the gulf. He caught it while jugging.


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## Fouled_Anchor

CatHunter said:


> Go down to Jims fish camp take a look at the photo wall. Its covered in bull shark photos from the lower end of Escambia. From the Power Plant down to about hwy 90 bridge they pile up around August in certain areas.


Been thinking about sharking around the mouth of the Escambia River. It's only 7 minutes from the house and would allow me to fish more often than the current long drives down to Pickens or Navarre do. This is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Thank you.


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## Jason

Don't doubt it, we use to catch trout/reds all the way up to Gulf Power and I have seen mullet as far up as Quintette area so a shark would be no problem....


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## CatHunter

Ill be willing to put a crisp $100 bill on the possibilities to catch one right now. The spawn is here, they are migrating into freshwater.


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## simpleman

think I'm to far north, at least I hope so.


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## Jeffbro999#2

Jason said:


> Don't doubt it, we use to catch trout/reds all the way up to Gulf Power and I have seen mullet as far up as Quintette area so a shark would be no problem....


Mullet can live in freshwater no problem. There are a lot of them in Lake Seminole, see several jump every trip. Don't know if there are any sharks in there though.


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## CatHunter

Jeffbro999 said:


> Mullet can live in freshwater no problem. There are a lot of them in Lake Seminole, see several jump every trip. Don't know if there are any sharks in there though.


There are Bullsharks landlocked in freshwater lakes in South Florida


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## osborne311

Bullsharks have no issue with fresh water. Have been found as far north as St Louis and Illinois.


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## capt'n slim

I live just south of hwy 90 in pace, i have seen bull sharks at the ramp i frequent. I always wonder about the guys i see wade fishing 1/4 mile from the dock in chest deep water, what in the hell are they thinking. Bull sharks aint nothing to mess with them jokers are mean as a copperheaddedwaterratttler.


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## Fouled_Anchor

Been out a few times so far in my kayak, trolling one line and casting another. Had something bite my whole mullet almost in half once (missed the hook) but couldn't tell whether it was a shark or a big gar. Caught way way way too many sail catfish in the process. Caught them trolling (swallowed entire 15/0 circle hook, real pain to get out of it's stomach sitting in yak). Caught them on cut bait sitting on bottom. Caught them casting mirrolures and spoons mid water. Caught them casting top water mirrolures. I am sick of sail cats! Grrrrr! One interesting thing I've noticed is that my kayak gets bumped from underneath a few times every time I've been out. I'm not talking about me hitting something, I mean something hits me. I've paddled the whole upper part of Escambia Bay, north of I-10 bridge, launching from either the Simpson River or Escambia River. Most of my bumps came from the Escambia River, up to the power plant, but several happened in the eastern part of the bay, south of the 90 bridge, south of the Simpson river. I've seen big cats, reds, and gars out there so it could be any of them. Water's only 3 to 6 feet most of the time so there's not much room under the yak. I guess it could also be a bull shark, although I haven't seen any with my own two eyes while paddling. I hear bulls are notorious for bumping before biting. Any thoughts on this?


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## barefoot

"_...I hear bulls are notorious for bumping before biting. Any thoughts on this?_ "

Stay outta the water and don't hang hands overboard when handling bleeding fish.


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## Fouled_Anchor

The last thing I'd ever want to do is go into the drink, even if it's only 3 feet deep. I never put anything into the water other than my hands to quickly rinse them off. I don't know if those bumps were from bulls, but I can tell you it is scary being so close to the water when it happens, especially when the sun is coming up or going down. I'm six two and weigh 235# so the yak sits low. Water routinely comes up through the scrupper holes, particularly in the back under the bungee in the cargo area. Need to lose weight or buy a bigger yak!


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## CatHunter

Update: Since this thread I have dialed in on the location of the bull sharks and when they enter and leave the rivers. Iv got my bait wrapped and ready, lets see what the night brings..


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## Fouled_Anchor

How'd it go last night, CatHunter?


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## CatHunter

Fouled_Anchor said:


> How'd it go last night, CatHunter?


Would have went better if I could keep the small black tips and catfish off my bait. We caught blacktips until about midnight before finally getting a big bull-shark hook up that we fought for 45 minutes before it came unbuttoned. We chased the fish for nearly a mile up river. They are here, we also caught a bad tide. Bullsharks are coming in on the incoming tide. We was fishing about a miles past the power lines north of the Power Plant


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## Fouled_Anchor

Wow, I ddn't think any blacktips would be up that far up the river, especially during low tide. I usually stay below the plant on the Escambia since I'm in a kayak and have to paddle. Those big sailcats are a real pain. I had one that pulled hard enough to yaw my kayak, first to port, then after swimming hard in front of the bow, to starboard. A smaller bullshark would probably be okay in the yak but a big momma could cause problems. Especially since I'm sitting mere inches above the water. You're probably in a 15-20ft aluminum or fiberglass boat with an outboard, which provides much better leverage for the angler. In the yak, if something pulls hard enough, you're going for a ride. If it changes direction suddenly and decides to swim under or behind the yak you have to be quick with reducing the drag or you could get dumped. Pretty scary stuff at night!


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## Fouled_Anchor

For the record, I have a cheap Pelican Apex 100 kayak. I bought the thing just to drop baits while surf fishing but have been using it to kayak fish as well. Definitely not the best choice for kayak fishing! Those Hobie PAs sure look nice and super stable, and I love how you can sit in a chair and get your behind out of the the water, but they sure are expensive. For the price of one of them new, you're already halfway there on a used bay boat, which would keep you dry in the colder months when the water's in the 50s and low 60s and provide you with a lot more leverage when fighting.


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