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1,207-pound mako shark taken off kona by woman
West Hawaii Today - March 1990
By Jim Rizzuto
The largest Mako shark ever caught on a hook and line
was boated off Kaiwi point saturday morning by Capt. Glen Hodson's Hustler.
Weighing in at 1207 pounds, the giant mako is 127 pounds larger than any catch
currently listed in the IGFA record book. The all-tackle record for mako is a
1080 pound fish caught off Montauk, N.Y., in August of 1979.
The Hustler's half-ton monster was caught on 130-pound class
tackle by a lady angler but won't be submitted for IGFA consideration. Novice
big game angler Jodie Daniels fought the fish for the entire 3 hours, but the
heavy rod and reel outfit was brought to her in the chair by deckhand Robert
Batersby. The IGFA will not accept the record if more than one person handles
the rod at any point in the fight.
The huge shark was hooked up on a live Aku fished next to the double D "Fishing
Island" achored offshore from Honokohau Harbor. It took the bait immediately
acording to capt. hodson. Capt. Ray Nibert told us he had seen a huge fish near
the double D the night before hodson said and we were hoping to catch it. The
hustler set the hook at 8am but the fight continued until 11am at first we
thought it was big marlin hodson said and we kept expecting to see a bill.
Mako sharks are know for their acorbatic leaps, but this one
only jumped once according to hodson "and the time all we saw was a huge
splash." then it headed straight offshore like a train," hodson said. We hooked
it at double D, tried to move it different ways with the boat but we couldn't
budge it from it's course and ended up following it out to F buoy before we
could finally get close enough to gaff it. that path covered somewhere near five
miles of sea. All the while the fierce an stubborn fish moving relentlessly
seaward against the pressure of boatr, crew and angler.
When the fishing party finally did get a close look at the
enormous fish "it scared the heck out of us" hoson said.
After fighting it for 2 hours we realized it was a shark and not a marlin, but
even then we guessed it was at 600 or 700 pounds. When we had it close and down
below the boat, it was twice that big."
Mako sharks have row after row of long, nasty teeth sticking out in all
direction, but first and foremost is to the leader connecting the hook to the
line.
We were suprised we still had it, Hodson said. We were using
a 400 pound test if nylon leader. Fortunately, the hook was caught in the corner
of the jaw and the teeth couldn't get at the leader. Luckily, we never pulled
the leader across its jaw and into contact with it's Teeth. That would have
clipped the nylon for sure."
Battersby and Hodson gaffed the shark and it took off again, straining against
the gaff rope where it was anchored to the base of the fighting chair.
"We were afraid it wasn't going to hold," Hodson said. "But
it did and we were able to rope the tail, too."
The Hustler carries a rope with a cable loop to secure the tail of a big fish;
that's essential gear with sharks of all sizes.
Having secured it by the tail, Hodson used the boat to drag the fish backwards
and kill it.
"We towed it backwards for an hour and a half before it
finally gave up," Hodson said. "Once in a while Bob pulled the head around to
check it's condition, and the shark would snap at us.
"Once we were sure it was dead, we tried to pull it up on the swim step, but
even with the three guys, we couldn't haul it up on the platform."
Hodson ended up towing the monster all the way back to the
harbor while it chewed on the boat.
It was dead, but the teeth kept scraping against the swim step.
The teeth marks won't be the only mementos of this remarkable experience.
Jodie Daniels will return to her home in North Pole Alaska,
with a chilling tale and maybe the mounted head of a monster.
"If she doesn't have it mounted, I will," Hodson said.
While accepting accolades for a historic catch, however, Hoson was frank to
admit "I'm not going to become a mako specialist."
©1990 Jim Rizzuto