503_ mako grp.jpg

I don’t think Bill Broyle and his crew from Starkville, MS, ever saw this one coming, nor did I for that matter. After a long lecture about how slow the Lump had been and how I had a good lead on some wahoo, we ventured out of South Pass. We caught a few wahoo early and even lucked into a yellowfin tuna with the diving baits. When we saw a blue fin that was too big to a be from a shark, our afternoon was about to take an unexpected change.

After a lot of coaxing, we finally got a little interest from the huge shark and eventually got a bite way out of sight in the open green water. Instead of a blistering run, we got just a little “click click click” of a bite. We got a close look at the shark early on in the fight and I knew my estimate of 300 pounds was way off. After another 2 and a half hours and several close encounters, we acquired a more appropriate form of anesthesia (thanks Hunter!) and finally got the shark under control and wrapped up. Rolling her up on the back of the boat and then running in Flat Boat Pass on low tide were both memorable experiences, as were Inga and Kevin’s attempts to get a weight on the shark in Venice, LA, where neither world-class marina has a big working scale. Nevertheless, the KRAKEN has a new boat record for mako shark, just barely edging out the 496# we got back in 2002. What a fish, what a fight, and what a memorable trip.