844-Pound Shark Caught Off Florida

[Benthook]

844-Pound Shark Caught Off Florida

 

DESTIN, Florida (Oct. 14) - Six friends went to a fishing tournament looking to catch some grouper. They caught an 844-pound shark instead.

 

 

Photo Gallery: Huge Creatures

William Hatfield, Northwest Florida Daily / AP

Mako Shark: An 11-foot shark hangs from the scales at the Destin Fishing Rodeo in Destin, Fla., Saturday. After it was gutted, the 844-pounder still weighed 638 pounds, breaking the tournament's record by 338 pounds.

 

The fight by Adlee Bruner and friends to pull the 11-foot mako shark onto the boat from the Gulf of Mexico took more than an hour on Saturday. But when they made it back to land, it was a record for the decades-old Destin Fishing Rodeo.

 

"It was tense," Bruner, 47, said about the fight to land the shark, which has a mouthful of huge, fearsome teeth. "I've fished for 40 years. I've never see one that big."

 

Bruner and his fishing buddies were on a 52-foot charter boat with Capt. Robert Hill, about 70 miles southwest of this beach city in northwestern Florida.

 

The fishermen first noticed the big mako because it kept eating grouper and scamp they had hooked.

 

"It was like 'Jaws,"' Hill said.

 

Hill hooked a 2-foot amberine on as bait and tossed it out. The shark eventually hit it.

 

After the long fight, the shark was gaffed and eventually gave up after its tail was roped. But even then, the men could not get the big shark in the boat. They tied it to the stern with three ropes and made the four-hour trip back to land.

 

The shark was hoisted at the rodeo before a big crowd. It tipped the scale at 844.4 pounds.

 

After it was gutted, the mako still weighed 638 pounds, breaking the tournament's previous shark division record by 338 pounds.

 

Uhmmmmm you can keep the ocean thanks~! lol~!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQHOaXPp4IE

Edited October 17, 2007 by Benthook

[ccmtcanada]

That's quite the shark!! I saw this video yesterday as well....must have been a fun ride!

[fatherof3]

can't even imagine that fight

[Fishnfiend]

Shark steaks, shark kabobs, broiled shark, smoked shark, shark pie, shark gumbo...

[Rizzo]

sweet mother of pearl thats a big fishy

[xrap]

can't even imagine that fight

 

 

I could, and it lasted about for 1 second lol!

Edited October 17, 2007 by xrap

[LeXXington]

Too bad they had to kill it, All they can do is take the fin's, teeth

 

Would have been a great fight thats for sure

[HTHM]

I could, and it lasted about for 1 second lol!

Ah.....come on, you chicken?

Actually I agree

[Crazyhook]

Too bad they had to kill it, All they can do is take the fin's, teeth

 

Would have been a great fight thats for sure

 

 

Mako is an amazing eating fish... it was not wasted thats for sure

[issamhay]

that fish was pretty much near the end of its lifespan.

[kayak fisher]

Actually, shortfin Mako sharks are listed as a vulnerable species. If this fish was a female, it was not at the end of its lifespan, rather it had recently entered into its prime reproductive stage. (Maximum weight- 1600lbs, twice the weight of the one that was caught)

 

http://www.newenglandsharks.com/shortfin.htm

 

This is kind of like clubbing that 50lb muskie you catch, so that you can eat it and show your friends.

 

Just my 2 cents, I hope they ate it.