Big ones are still out there

[JimCt]

DESTIN - A Gulf Breeze fishing crew interrupted the dinner of a Mako shark that was feasting on a school of dolphins Wednesday.

And the capture of the feisty 1,063-pound shark may earn the crew a world fishing record.

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MORE INFO:
Standing world records for short-fin Mako sharks:
Class: 30-pound line
Record: 997 pounds, 11 ounces, Sidney, Australia. 1995
Class: 50-pound line
Record: 1,080 pounds, Long Island, 1979
Class: 80-pound line
Record: 1,075 pounds, 13 ounces, Spain, 1997
Class: all-tackle
Record: 1,221 pounds, Massachusetts, 2001
(Source: International Game Fish Association)
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The four people aboard the Sea Ya Later II were cobia fishing when they spotted the shark at about 2:30 p.m. chasing its lunch near the shore between Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach.

The shark, which was about 300 to 400 yards from the shore, had a porpoise in its mouth when it was hooked with a cobia jig. That didn't faze the 12-foot, 6-inch Mako, which is a type of shark notorious for putting up a fight.

It didn't take long for the crew aboard the 23-foot boat to realize they were going to need a bigger vessel to help.

Then along came the Mother Lode, a 45-foot charter boat that docks at the Fisherman's Wharf in Destin.

The boat's captain, Jason Hallmark, joined the effort on the Sea Ya Later II. He threw a flying gaff into the shark's gill, which finally caused it to release the porpoise. A flying gaff is a large hook attached to rope used to pull in a fisherman's catch.

 "That's when the fish went crazy," said Paul Sims, a Valparaiso man who was on the Mother Lode. "We don't even think she knew she was foul-hooked."

It would take another flying gaff to secure the shark. Both of those gaffs were tied to the Sea Ya Later. The boat was tilting, with the water only about a foot away from flowing over the railing.

"If she hadn't been as tired as she was, this boat would be sitting on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico," Lindsey Stanley, the Sea Ya Later II's 105-pound captain, said late Wednesday night.

After the shark died, it took eight men to pull it aboard the Mother Lode. The Mako was too heavy for the first set of scales at Fisherman's Wharf.

"That was a lifetime experience for any angler on the water, without a question," Sims said.

The registered weight of 1,063 pounds makes the catch eligible for the world record in the 30-pound line class for a short-fin Mako.

The current class record is a 997-pound, 11-ounce shark caught in Sidney, Australia, in 1995.

The largest Mako recorded in the all-tackle division was a 1,221 pounder caught in Massachusetts in 2001.

"It's a possible world record, and I'm investigating it as a world record," said Jim Roberson, who represents the Panhandle for the International Game Fish Association.

" … When you're catching a 1,000-pound fish on a 30-pound string, that's a big deal," he said.

An application for a world record must be submitted to verify certain requirements have been met. A photograph must also exist of the angler, the tackle and the fish together.

The application process can take as long as 90 days, Roberson said.
The shark is now in a refrigerated truck in Pensacola. It will likely be used for research.

The crew is also thinking about making a mold of their trophy catch.
 
Daily News Staff Writer Jill Nolin

[John Jones]

That's where we vacationed when I was a kid.

[RickK]

Anything half as big as your boat would be scary, let alone something that could/would eat you. That thing weighed about as much as my 170 without motor.

[John Jones]

Last Wed. I was coming in to Sarasota on the noon Delta flight from Atlanta. Another plane had some sort of emergency and the pilot had to abort and turned just as we crossed the beach. I saw a huge shark within casting distance of the swimmers. No ID but it was really thick in the middle. Judging by a flats boat that was nearby it was a good 8 footer.  

[JimCt]

EEK!

[LilRichard]

You guys are just trying to scare Jim into staying out of the water at the meet next weekend...

 

[John Jones]

Hell, I don't go into the water past knee deep.  I have seen too many sharks, I mean really big sharks, right on the beach.  I like being at the TOP of the food chain.

Watch the PTTS (Professional Tarpon Tournament Series) this summer.  Seldom to they have a tournament that there isn't a 150# tarpon eaten right at boatside by a big hammerhead or bull.

http://www.tarponanglersclub.com

Fish this size eaten in one or two bites.  

[RickK]

Pink is a good color