[cool]I have fished threshers commercially (great eating), from piers and from boats. But, I have never gone after them from a tube. I know some of the yakkers target threshers and have landed some over 200 pounds. If you go to the wall of fame, or look up "kayak fishing" on your browser, you can find several sites with thresher shark pics with smiling kayakers in them, like this pic.
I'm a wild and crazy guy, but I don't think I would deliberately go after threshers from a tube. When they are in, they are easy enough to hook, but getting them subdued is something else. They make high twisting leaps and they can whack the snot out of you with those long tails.
While threshers do not have the large mouths and big teeth of a great white, they do have some wicked teeth and they know how to use them. They feed mostly on live fish, and they have the dental equipment to do the job.
While you can hook the occasional thresher almost anywhere on the coast, they are found in greatest numbers along the coastline between Redondo and Goleta...usually in the early spring, when they gather for their "spring fling". They well munch almost any live bait, but I used to do well fishing off the Hueneme pier with live perch...shiner perch or walleye. But, the real killer bait was always a big live queenfish. Large sardines are excellent when you can get them.
Be sure to use wire leaders. Even the heaviest mono is easily cut by the sharp slicing teeth of a thresher. And, make sure you have abrasion resistant line. When they jump and twist, they usually wrap up in the line and their skin rasps right through wimpy mono.
All that being said, I think it would be a real kick to hook up with some of the "pups"...threshers under 50 pounds. There are often quite a few of them around when the big mamas come in to mate. They would be just about the right size for a tussle from a tube. However, I think I would be inclined to want to cut the line before I tried to get them close enough to do a standard hook removal. I have heard of broken ankles and wrists from the tail smacks of a fiesty thresher. And, it's hard to swing a machete from a tube, to cut off that long tail lobe before it can do some damage.
Let us know if you plan a trip for them. I think we can sell the video footage to one of those TV programs about "Stupid behavior caught on tape".
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