Friends Catch a 844-Pound Mako Shark

Filed in archive Fishing on October 16, 2007

This is more amazing than inspirational, but worth sharing nonetheless. On Sunday, six friends went fishing and caught a 844-pound shark, surpassing the previous record by 338 pounds. It took the group more than an hour to reel in the 11-foot Mako shark off Florida's Panhandle.

Watch video of the shark. Men Catch Monster Shark

"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 the Florida Panhandle.

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 two-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.