MY 1st MAKO

Captain Curt · 03-22-2008, 11:37 PM

Sept 3/05

I will never forget that date.All in all it was the best and worst day of fishing all in one.It has taken three years and I am still heartbroken over a fish but am starting to let it go.
Shark fishing is one of those things that you can read all about or charter a good capt. and learn from them or you can just go out and give it a whirl.Well we just went out and did it.We all had read a few books and caught some bluesharks talked to some guy that have gone sharking on their own.As in most trips offshore we had a plan of where we wanted to fish what to bring and who was going to do what.There was three of us on the boat a 69 pacemaker 38' .We found the spot started the chum line put three lines in the water 80' 50' and 25'.Not 15 minutes had gone by and the deep line starts screaming off like I have never seen before.I was standing right in front of the rod.I no sooner grabbed the rod and put the slightest pressure on the fish and all hell broke loose.The mako jumped clear out of the water straight up in the air did a complete flip with a twist and came crashing back down in the drink.I think my heart stopped for about 5 seconds.How I even remembered to bow to the fish is beyond me I was in total disbelief.The line started out of the reel again just as fast as the first run then it stopped he turned and was heading back for the boat.I asked the capt. to put the boat in gear and try to keep him on the rear quarter and I reeled as fast as I could soon the line came tight.I fought the shark for another five or ten minutes and we had him boatside.We all agreed it was too quick and he was still too green.So I let off the drag a touch we put the boat in gear and put maybe 75-100 yrds between us.Once again as soon as I put pressure on the shark he came out off the water again this time even higher it was awesome.I played with him for another 15 minutes or so and he was back boatside and we all agreed to try and harpoon him.We did not think he would stick around after a third jump.At first look the shark was all of 250 lbs but none of us are shark experts .We wire him up to the port quarter and try to sink the stick into him great shot right in the head.The top of the head about the hardest part of the fish.The dart did not go into the flesh and we did not want to chance having it pull out and come back at us.Next flying gaff.The gaff head ends up under the sharks jaw also not a great spot but he is still boatside and doesn't seem to pissed off YET.Now we have a cluster. We have the mainline still all over the deck with a long wire leader the harpoon line and the gaff line that was tied off. Last comes the tailrope .I don't like the way this is going too many lines on the deck so I make the call to cut the mainline and get the wire out of the picture.With that done we try three times to tailrope her but we can't get the line around the tail.I grab a small 6 ft gaff and stick the tail to lift it so we can get the tailrope on and the shark comes alive rolls over three times and takes off and to all our surprise the line for the flying gaff is not tied off to the cleat.We all jump back make sure everyone is still in the boat and we think the shark is off the side as we look over we hear this noise sounds like a line being pulled over the side.Just as we all realized what happened the tag end of the line slips over the gunnel.I scream at the top of my lungs NOOOOOO.My first Mako is gone he played us and played us good and he won.I called one of my good friends on the vhf and told him we just lost a nice mako.I have a picture that one of the guys snapped in the heat of it all and it proves we had him but it also reminds me that he won.My wife hates it but this picture is in my living room and it reminds me of all the mistakes we made on this shark.Since then I have read alot more books and listened to a ton of stories and will fish with anyone I think I can learn from.I practice sharking in the florida keys to get to know these fish and how they act and to teach me how to fight them.I have been fishing the Monster shark tournament in O.B for the last two years and am still waiting for my next chance at MR MAKO.

Thanks for listening.

demonfish · 03-22-2008, 11:48 PM

We all lose one, dont feel bad. I dropped a twelve plus pound fluke on the surface. It was afishing club trip, it would have won the pool and paid for me an Ian and had money left over. What did I do wrong , not wipe the slime off my hand after the last rebait. My hand slipped off the real handle. Everyone onboard but me saw this fish it took me close to 15 minutes to get it up out of twenty five feet of water. I feel the pain brother.

Philly Doug · 03-22-2008, 11:52 PM

Any time. Perhaps you go back out and tangle with him a few pounds heavier this year.

On The Edge · 03-23-2008, 10:38 AM

Man i feel your pain. I lost my first one too..
2 seasons ago Hoop and i had my bro in law out for a day of sharkin in mid September. It was a FAC day and the run from Falmouth to the dump was like rowing in a pond. We found our spot set our slick and rods and nothing for about an hour untill middle rod gets hit. Tourned out to be a 6' blue and it was good cuz it was my bro in laws first shark ever. About another 1 1/2 goes by and the long rod with our only live blue starts to run. I got over to the rod and just as i put my hand on it she stops. I stood there for a min or two and nothing so i just let it be. i went back to get my sandwich and just as i picked it up the same rod started to scream.. This time i grabed the rod quick, set it in the belt and gave it a 5 count and locked it up.. After pushing the reel up into strike it did not slow down and screeamed off about 5 more seconds and then about 100 yards of the stern quarter Mr Maco decided to show himself with a 8' high twisting backflip. Well hoop and i yell MAKO and i tell him this one is all yours. I hand off the rod and hoop is in.
My bro in law and clear the other rods and get hoop belted in. After the rods are cleared i go to the helm to start the motors to prepare to give chase and just as i get the second motor started hoop turns to me and says it gone. Thinking it may be running at the boat he reels like a madman hopping to come tight but it never did all we got back to the boat was an empty hook.

Because it was the first mako we had ever had on we only had an uneducated guess as to it size and we were thinking based on it's length was around 200 to 300 pounds.

In hind site based on the 230lb mako we got this past season, who also jumped at about the same range The one we had on that day had to be over 300 lbs.

We are hopping for a rematch with that bad boy this season..

demonfish · 03-23-2008, 11:24 AM

Dont foget to post your goof ups in Capt. Curts pepper contest thread.

03-22-2008, 11:37 PM	#1
Captain Curt User Gallery Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Norwood/Quincy/Marshfield,Ma/Islamorada,Fl Posts: 556	MY 1st MAKO Sept 3/05 I will never forget that date.All in all it was the best and worst day of fishing all in one.It has taken three years and I am still heartbroken over a fish but am starting to let it go. Shark fishing is one of those things that you can read all about or charter a good capt. and learn from them or you can just go out and give it a whirl.Well we just went out and did it.We all had read a few books and caught some bluesharks talked to some guy that have gone sharking on their own.As in most trips offshore we had a plan of where we wanted to fish what to bring and who was going to do what.There was three of us on the boat a 69 pacemaker 38' .We found the spot started the chum line put three lines in the water 80' 50' and 25'.Not 15 minutes had gone by and the deep line starts screaming off like I have never seen before.I was standing right in front of the rod.I no sooner grabbed the rod and put the slightest pressure on the fish and all hell broke loose.The mako jumped clear out of the water straight up in the air did a complete flip with a twist and came crashing back down in the drink.I think my heart stopped for about 5 seconds.How I even remembered to bow to the fish is beyond me I was in total disbelief.The line started out of the reel again just as fast as the first run then it stopped he turned and was heading back for the boat.I asked the capt. to put the boat in gear and try to keep him on the rear quarter and I reeled as fast as I could soon the line came tight.I fought the shark for another five or ten minutes and we had him boatside.We all agreed it was too quick and he was still too green.So I let off the drag a touch we put the boat in gear and put maybe 75-100 yrds between us.Once again as soon as I put pressure on the shark he came out off the water again this time even higher it was awesome.I played with him for another 15 minutes or so and he was back boatside and we all agreed to try and harpoon him.We did not think he would stick around after a third jump.At first look the shark was all of 250 lbs but none of us are shark experts .We wire him up to the port quarter and try to sink the stick into him great shot right in the head.The top of the head about the hardest part of the fish.The dart did not go into the flesh and we did not want to chance having it pull out and come back at us.Next flying gaff.The gaff head ends up under the sharks jaw also not a great spot but he is still boatside and doesn't seem to pissed off YET.Now we have a cluster. We have the mainline still all over the deck with a long wire leader the harpoon line and the gaff line that was tied off. Last comes the tailrope .I don't like the way this is going too many lines on the deck so I make the call to cut the mainline and get the wire out of the picture.With that done we try three times to tailrope her but we can't get the line around the tail.I grab a small 6 ft gaff and stick the tail to lift it so we can get the tailrope on and the shark comes alive rolls over three times and takes off and to all our surprise the line for the flying gaff is not tied off to the cleat.We all jump back make sure everyone is still in the boat and we think the shark is off the side as we look over we hear this noise sounds like a line being pulled over the side.Just as we all realized what happened the tag end of the line slips over the gunnel.I scream at the top of my lungs NOOOOOO.My first Mako is gone he played us and played us good and he won.I called one of my good friends on the vhf and told him we just lost a nice mako.I have a picture that one of the guys snapped in the heat of it all and it proves we had him but it also reminds me that he won.My wife hates it but this picture is in my living room and it reminds me of all the mistakes we made on this shark.Since then I have read alot more books and listened to a ton of stories and will fish with anyone I think I can learn from.I practice sharking in the florida keys to get to know these fish and how they act and to teach me how to fight them.I have been fishing the Monster shark tournament in O.B for the last two years and am still waiting for my next chance at MR MAKO. Thanks for listening. __________________ Capt.Curt Maxon www.relentlesscharters.com

03-22-2008, 11:48 PM	#2
demonfish NBS Member User Gallery Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Mattituck, NY Posts: 229	We all lose one, dont feel bad. I dropped a twelve plus pound fluke on the surface. It was afishing club trip, it would have won the pool and paid for me an Ian and had money left over. What did I do wrong , not wipe the slime off my hand after the last rebait. My hand slipped off the real handle. Everyone onboard but me saw this fish it took me close to 15 minutes to get it up out of twenty five feet of water. I feel the pain brother. __________________ Behind the obstensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and aknowledging no responsibilty to the people. Teddy Roosevelt

03-23-2008, 10:38 AM	#4
On The Edge NBS Member User Gallery Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: douglas MA Posts: 297	Man i feel your pain. I lost my first one too.. 2 seasons ago Hoop and i had my bro in law out for a day of sharkin in mid September. It was a FAC day and the run from Falmouth to the dump was like rowing in a pond. We found our spot set our slick and rods and nothing for about an hour untill middle rod gets hit. Tourned out to be a 6' blue and it was good cuz it was my bro in laws first shark ever. About another 1 1/2 goes by and the long rod with our only live blue starts to run. I got over to the rod and just as i put my hand on it she stops. I stood there for a min or two and nothing so i just let it be. i went back to get my sandwich and just as i picked it up the same rod started to scream.. This time i grabed the rod quick, set it in the belt and gave it a 5 count and locked it up.. After pushing the reel up into strike it did not slow down and screeamed off about 5 more seconds and then about 100 yards of the stern quarter Mr Maco decided to show himself with a 8' high twisting backflip. Well hoop and i yell MAKO and i tell him this one is all yours. I hand off the rod and hoop is in. My bro in law and clear the other rods and get hoop belted in. After the rods are cleared i go to the helm to start the motors to prepare to give chase and just as i get the second motor started hoop turns to me and says it gone. Thinking it may be running at the boat he reels like a madman hopping to come tight but it never did all we got back to the boat was an empty hook. Because it was the first mako we had ever had on we only had an uneducated guess as to it size and we were thinking based on it's length was around 200 to 300 pounds. In hind site based on the 230lb mako we got this past season, who also jumped at about the same range The one we had on that day had to be over 300 lbs. We are hopping for a rematch with that bad boy this season.. __________________ Catch um up 1999 proline 2202 wa 1999 200 merc

03-23-2008, 11:24 AM	#5
demonfish NBS Member User Gallery Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Mattituck, NY Posts: 229	Dont foget to post your goof ups in Capt. Curts pepper contest thread. __________________ Behind the obstensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and aknowledging no responsibilty to the people. Teddy Roosevelt

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03-22-2008, 11:52 PM	#3
Philly Doug NBS Member User Gallery Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Wynnewood, PA Posts: 366	Any time. Perhaps you go back out and tangle with him a few pounds heavier this year.