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Giant Mako Shark Caught Locally


A local fishing crew may landed one for the record books.

They set out for Cobia... And came back with a monster Mako

Channel Three's Jake Peterson has the story of massive fish that's become the envy of anglers across the Emerald Coast.

"It's the baddest fish in the Gulf."

"All I did was help load it, but it was an awesome experience."

This Cobia fishing crew has quite the story to tell.

Earlier this week they hooked themselves into the history books, while fishing near Pensacola Beach.

"We seen this shark jumping out of the water three times."

The anglers went in for the catch.

"We hooked it up and we wrestled with it for about a half an hour and then we realized we couldn't get it in a 23 foot boat."

George Schwartz and his crew called in a bigger boat for backup.

"When we stuck the gaff in it spun us around and our boat spun around 180 degrees."

It took about ten men and women three hours to conquer the Mako shark.

"It was like we were filiming 'Jaws Four' that day, haha."

This is the shark they call Jaws. It's quite the sight, he's nearly thirteen feet long and weighs one thousand 63 pounds. The International Game Fish Association says it's the fourth biggest Mako in the world."

"We broke the scales here."

But it's the biggest Mako ever caught in Florida waters. And the biggest ever caught on such light tackle.

"We figured we had a world record."

"This is once in lifetime."

The crew says the big fish is an awesome sight, but they're ready to dig into their prize.

"We're going to clean it and then distribute it between the crews, cause Mako is really good eatin'."

The International Game Fish Association says the fish appears to be the largest Mako shark caught with a thirty pound line test.

Last Updated: Friday, April 20 2007, 07:34 PM

I remember surfing with a group of friends at the P'cola Beach pier back in the late 60's, We had to clear the water when one of our friends up on the pier started hollering shark at us. We thought he was joking untlil we realized he had hooked one on his fishing line. End of the story is that it was a 17' Hammerhead Shark. We helped get it up on shore. To say the least it was a monster and is by far the biggest fish I have ever seen. They cut it open and found 7 baby sharks inside which they promptly threw back in the Gulf!! Apparently the shark was close in to shore getting ready to give birth since all of them swam away.

What a shame they kept a magnificent animal like that. I'm all for catch and release myself on the larger species.

Thats a huge Mako.

I'd of thrown it back though.

They took it to the scales at Harborwalk Marina and while they were trying to weigh it the scales broke three times!!!

I don't blame them for not releasing it,I mean for a world record I would've done it too.And I know mako tastes really good!

Im glad that wasnt released back into the gulf.

fact, try not to fear a natural part of the world. Sharks have their place in Nature. They really don't just cruise around looking for innocent humans to bite. When we put ourselves in the shark's environment, we become part of their world in the food chain. Having knowledge and a healthy respect of how they operate, will keep you safer than fear and wholesale butchery.

JenBayles wrote:fact, try not to fear a natural part of the world. Sharks have their place in Nature. They really don't just cruise around looking for innocent humans to bite. When we put ourselves in the shark's environment, we become part of their world in the food chain. Having knowledge and a healthy respect of how they operate, will keep you safer than fear and wholesale butchery.

I completely agree.

Im not afraid of them but as I understand it, it was really close to shore. I have to ask why was it there?

fact789 wrote:Im not afraid of them but as I understand it, it was really close to shore. I have to ask why was it there?

I heard it was feeding off a pack of dolphins.

You'd be surprised how close in sharks come to shore with most people none the wiser - particularly as the water warms up. Usually they're looking for, or following, schools of fish to crash into and eat.

JenBayles wrote:You'd be surprised how close in sharks come to shore with most people none the wiser - particularly as the water warms up. Usually they're looking for, or following, schools of fish to crash into and eat.

I'll back you up on that one. Saw way more of them close to shore in P'cola than anyone probably ever dreamed of seeing between my surfing and my snorkeling.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen a shark within 10 or less feet of me in the water while im out surfing,I've become use to it.

Go to P'cola beach by the pier early in the morning (about 6-7am) and you'll see packs of bullsharks come RIGHT UP to the shoreline chasing schools of fish.

Absolutely! Opal, I've seen that more times than I can count down on Galveston Island, usually in mid summer. The mullet school up between the sand bars, and the black tips, sand sharks and bull sharks swim right up after them. Most of the swimmers have no idea they're surrounded by more sharks than people.

Makos usually don't come close to shore.

That's true, they usually stay in the deeper waters, but it's not all that rare for them to come in closer. Same with hammerheads, and we've caught those right off the west end of Galveston Island - including a 12-footer.