4/7/11 BIG TIGER SHARK!!!
Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 08:44PM The past few years my friend Jon Patten from England has come over in search of big fish. Last year he caught 3 broadbill swordfish with me and mentioned he had always wanted to catch a big tiger shark. I told him April would be his best bet, but there was no guarantee. When Jon showed up this morning for his Islamorada Fishing Trip he was stoked. At 7 a.m. we headed offshore in search for a sea monster. Jon managed to catch a 40 lb amberjack right away and we sent it down for a big shark. We drifted about an hour with no bite. I told him we should try to catch a few blackfin tuna for dinner, so we put our kite up and managed to catch a handful of nice tuna up to 25 lbs. He said he still wanted that shark though, more than anything. So we sent down a butterfly jig, and 20 minutes later Jon brought up another amberjack, about 45 lbs. We hooked it on for bait, drifted the area, but no bites. Things were starting to look slim as far as the shark was concerned. We wound up catching a 10 tunas in total, and then decided to put one more shark bait down. We drifted about 3/4 of a mile and I said "Jon, today might not be our day." Next thing I know, we snagged the bottom! Or so I thought. The rod started bouncing, and drag started to scream. It was the sea monster Jon had waited to do battle with. We strapped him in the chair, bumped up the drag, and sent Jon to work. After 90 minutes Jon had the beast boatside. We estimated the tiger shark at 700+ lbs!!! After getting some good pictures, we released the giant fish, and Jon said it was the best fish he'd ever caught. It was an exciting Florida Keys Fishing Charter today aboard the BNM.
The Catch 22 also had a great day with 5 sailfish releases and a few dolphin. The Reel McCoy had 3 sailfish releases, a couple tunas, and a few dolphon too. Capt. Joey on the Fearless had a couple dolphin and 2 sailfish releases as well.
Reader Comments (2)
slow swimming shark. Not a good fighter. Catch a mako!!
Amazing! What a thrill to just watch that fight! Admittedly, if I was there, my pants would be RUINED the minute that thing broke the surface. It conjures scenes from JAWS! Well done Capt. and angler.