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The Chum
Most shark fishermen simply purchase frozen cans of chum from their local bait supplier. The chum is tied off to the boat in either a flexible chum bag or a five-gallon bucket riddled with holes, and it basically takes care of itself. All the anglers have to do is check the chum once in a while and add another can when required. We like to add some "spice" to the chum slick by occasionally throwing some very small pieces of cut up mackerel or bunker.
The addition of two extra items to the chum line can be very helpful in attracting fish to the slick. The first item I like to add is menhaden (bunker) oil. This can be purchased as either pure oil or as "menhaden milk" at most bait dealers. When handling this stuff be careful! A drop spilled on deck will quickly make it as slippery as a skating rink! The easiest ways to dispense this liquid into the slick is either with an IV drip bag, which can be purchased at most medical supply stores or via a "sportstop" water bottle, the kind where you pull the top up to make the water flow. You can fill either the bag or the water bottle with the oil (best done over the side of the boat or before you head out) and then adjust the drip rate so it dispenses a drop every minute or so.
This fish came up tail wrapped and probably would have been lost on a mono leader. The second thing I like to add to the chum slick is some sort of sparkle. This simulates fish scales, which are a good indication of some sort of feeding frenzy. The problem is, what to use? Most of the stuff sold in hobby and party stores is some sort of plastic, which is not only bad for the environment, but also illegal. If you can't find a hobby or party store that sells some kind of organic sparkle, you can get some from the herring processing plants in Maine. Believe it or not, herring scales are used in several industries and are collected by the herring processing plants.
The Hookset
You can often tell by the speed at which it moves if a pick up is a mako or thresher versus one of the more sedentary species. A blue shark will often lazily keep swimming toward the boat after picking up a bait, while a mako will go zipping along in any direction. If you think you might have a mako on the end of the line, just WAIT! It's probably the hardest thing to do in sharking, but you have to wait to make sure that the shark has the hook in its mouth before trying to set the hook. The seconds seems like minutes and the minutes seem like hours, but if you want a good chance of hooking the fish, you have to wait. Count to 100, get yourself a beer, make a sandwich, do anything but don't pick up that rod until at least a minute goes by. If the fish drops the bait, again, just wait. More times than not the fish will circle back and pick up the bait again. Do not start the engine(s). That will often spook the fish and send it heading over the horizon.
The Battle
There really isn't much to say about the fight that won't come naturally to any veteran offshore angler. Get the angler into the chair or, if fighting standup, into a
corner of the transom, start the engines and keep the angler in the best position to fight the fish.
The End Game
Many veteran shark anglers have noticed that a good-sized thresher or mako will often come to the boat relatively easy during the first few minutes of the fight. Some call it the "look see" visit. At this point the fish is relatively "green" and still full of spunk. It's up to you if this happens, whether to simply let the fish swim away and fight it until it's easier to handle or to go for it, and try to secure the fish at first sight. Personally, I'll choose trying to secure the fish at first sight, every time, rather than fight it for some additional time and take all of the chances of equipment failure and whatever else can go wrong. Remember, Murphy was an optimist!
We much prefer to use a cockpit harpoon over a flying gaff. I only use a flyer when fishing in a tournament that disallows the use of a harpoon. When using a harpoon, it's important to go for the "button hole." Use as much strength as you have to push the dart completely through the fish, and hold onto the line. You don't want to give the fish a chance to build up a head of steam and hit the end of the line with a bang. You can gradually let the dart line slip through your gloved hand, if necessary, to lessen the chances of the dart pulling through when the line comes tight. When you first strike the fish, be it with a harpoon or flying gaff, many times the fish will go motionless for a few seconds. Be ready for this, and have a weighted tailrope at the ready to take advantage of the moment. If you act quickly you can have the fish tail roped and tied off before it knows what happened. But you must act quickly; you only have a few seconds before the fish goes completely bonkers. Good luck and catch 'em up! 
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