The shark ate a small piece of squid on a deep-drop 12/0 circle hook rig. We were fishing for goldspots, not shark, near the Witches Hat. I thought we had a black seabass at first, but it never decompressed on the way up and, as you can see, was still plenty lively at the boat. The reel (Daiwa 450H Sealine with 80 lb. PowerPro) was NOT bringing it up. Even with the drag locked down, the shark was still pulling line whenever it wanted. I eventually put on my gloves and gently hand-lined the shark to the surface. That took the better part of an hour, because sharks like it near the bottom and this one insisted on heading back that way quite regularly. After several failed attempts at tail-roping it, I was sure it was going to break off. That's usually the way this story ends and I've heard it from many that have hooked up large makos, Ric included. I don't have a flying gaff or tail roper on board -- I never actually fish for shark. So, dock line in hand, and after numerous attempts, we managed to actually get the rope around the tail and cinch it down. Poor Wendell got tail slapped in the face twice during this process -- I commend him for his vigilance! At that same moment we actually roped it, the shark threw its head and broke the fishing line. Having a plan helped, but lady luck definitely had a say in catching this fish! If it would have broken off, oh well, Shark 1, Stuart 0. For a change, the home team actually won this battle! This was more than deep-sea fishing. It was a heck of an adventure! After the shark died, it took all four of us to pull it up between the motors and get it on deck -- with the business end facing out the back of the boat just in case it wasn't as dead as I thought it was. Larry tape measured it at over 9 ft. tip of nose to tip of tail and we estimated weight to be at least 285 lbs., probably over 300.
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