Sharked

[Pilchard]

A buddy of mine put this on Instagram a couple hours ago. Thought I'd share with you guys.

 

[Grnwing]

Hate it! Hard enough to hook up with one then to have a shark hit it.

 

[7mm08]

That sucks ! Swims a thousand or more miles one way to have sex and gets eaten! It was worth it for 10-15 years for the old boy until he met Mr Hammerhead!

 

[UPSman]

That looked like it was a fairly big shad at one time. Sharks are a big equalizer.

 

[RUGER]

Wow !

 

[bloodtrailing]

Shiner of the sea.

 

[7mm08]

Maybe closer to 50 years!

I often wonder how many fish I released that were sharked after I let them go. Especially in the days where it was common practice to bring them in the boat for a picture before "reviving" them.

The amazing part about these sharks is that they regularly catch and eat healthy, free-swimming tarpon. I've watched it happen dozens of times in remote places. But what's more concerning is the sharks ability to learn and hang out around areas that see a lot of fishing pressure.

If I can find the pictures I'll post a few where I fished with OSEARCH in Boca Grande to catch large hammers, tag them and get DNA samples.

I know 50 which is crazy but what do you think that weighed,,,, 70? , so MAYBE 10-15 years. That's no 225# 'er.
I hate sharks!

 

[Pilchard]

Yeah. Probably a 70lb fish give or take 10lbs. That boat has a 9 ft beam and the hatch near the head of the fish is a livewell that is centered across the transom. So there is roughly 4.5-5 feet of fish remaining.

I've only ever actually weighed a handful of tarpon so as much as I like to think I am decent at estimating their weights, it's still just a guess.

It's said it takes them 7 years to reach maturity but I don't buy it. I tagged a bunch of fish years ago. One of which was recaptured 3 yrs later and had only grown 5.5 inches. It wasn't a particularly large fish either. What's neat is I caught it in the middle of the Everglades and it was recaptured off the coast of Belize.

 

[7mm08]

Yeah. Probably a 70lb fish give or take 10lbs. That boat has a 9 ft beam and the hatch near the head of the fish is a livewell that is centered across the transom. So there is roughly 4.5-5 feet of fish remaining.

I've only ever actually weighed a handful of tarpon so as much as I like to think I am decent at estimating their weights, it's still just a guess.

It's said it takes them 7 years to reach maturity but I don't buy it. I tagged a bunch of fish years ago. One of which was recaptured 3 yrs later and had only grown 5.5 inches. It wasn't a particularly large fish either. What's neat is I caught it in the middle of the Everglades and it was recaptured off the coast of Belize.

Dammm things are animals. So much respect for their existence. First one I hooked on a fly was " about 130" per guide, ( a Dave Mangum guide) I thought it was coming in the boat on the initial jump/thrash . It later broke the backing about 20 min later.