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When a passing shark snaps up your striped bass for a snack

Fisherman showing off that portion of the striped bass left to him by a brown shark.
On The Water magazine
Fisherman showing off that portion of the striped bass left to him by a brown shark.

Imagine this scenario: you're fishing at night and hook a good-sized fish. It's putting up a fight, tugging on the line—and then suddenly it gets much heavier. What just happened?

Some moments later, the line is easy to reel in. And when you do, you see... just a piece of striped bass.

It's been happening more often. Fishermen in Vineyard Sound and Woods Hole increasingly have been reporting these encounters lately. And in each instance the culprit is almost certainly a brown shark.

Kevin Blinkoff of OTW Magazine joins us to talk about what we know about these "silent lurkers" and why their numbers seem to be on the rise.

And of course, we round up the week's Cape Cod fishing action. With summer coming on and waters warming, you're going to want to change your approach to striped bass. And we've got reports of hungry tuna.

Give a listen.

Steve is Managing Editor of News. He came to WCAI in 2007. He also hosts the weekly News Roundup on Friday mornings and produces The Fishing News.