Few fish command as a lot consideration — or generate as a lot concern — as huge sharks. These apex predators are the stuff of legend, each in well-liked tradition and amongst hardcore fishing circles. From the story of the usS. Indianapolis, a World Warfare II ship that sank in shark-infested waters, via the story of the Matawan Maneater, which is broadly considered the inspiration behind the shark in “Jaws,” and all the best way as much as our present-day obsession with Shark Week, people have lengthy been captivated by huge sharks. That is much more true within the saltwater fishing world, the place many anglers dream of touchdown one of many largest sharks ever caught on heavy sort out.
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Fishing for sharks has develop into sophisticated, although, and harvesting huge sharks is just not as acceptable now because it was within the twentieth century. Shark shares world wide have been overfished thanks, partly, to the booming black marketplace for shark fins in China and elsewhere. Regardless that the apply is now unlawful in lots of nations, between 70 and 100 million sharks are “finned” yearly after which tossed again into the oceans. These declines have led to protections for a lot of shark species, and shark-killing bans are the principle motive why you don’t see many new information for sharks within the Worldwide Sport Fishing Affiliation’s document books.
This isn’t to say that huge sharks aren’t nonetheless being caught. Sure species are rebounding in some areas, just like the Gulf of Mexico, and this July, a crew of Gulf-Coast fishermen competing in a event weighed the heaviest bull shark ever recorded in Alabama. Here’s a take a look at a number of the largest sharks ever recorded by the IGFA.
Blacktip Shark (Carcharhinus limbatus)
Blacktips are discovered worldwide in heat temperate and tropical waters, each inshore and offshore. They are often discovered close to river mouths, in backcountry lagoons, and in deeper water close to coral reefs. One of many species that isn’t thought of overfished, these sharks are quick growers and sometimes focused by inshore anglers. They’ll hit nearly any kind of reside or useless bait and even huge saltwater flies. Blacktip sharks now account for about 60 p.c of economic and leisure catch of enormous coastal shark species, in line with NOAA Fisheries.
Jurgen Oeder caught his 270-pound 9-ounce blacktip on Sept. 21, 1984, in Kenya’s Malindi Bay. The fish measured 94.46 inches. Oeder was fishing with a Fenwick rod and a Penn Worldwide 80 reel loaded with 80-pound Stren line, and utilizing a yellowfin tuna as bait.
Bull Shark (Carcharhinus leucas)
Bull sharks have a fame for being aggressive, they usually’re one of many three species most certainly to assault a human when unprovoked. They’re plain trying and stocky in look, with small eyes and broad, rounded snouts. Whereas they’re primarily a saltwater fish, bull sharks can reside in brackish and freshwater environments too, they usually’ve been discovered miles upriver in lots of locations. These sharks prey on something they’ll catch, together with smaller fish, different sharks, birds, dolphins, and the occasional mammal.
Ronald de Jager has the present world document for the most important bull shark. The whopping 697-pound 12-ounce brute taped out at 104.33 inches with a beefy 77.95-inch girth. He additionally caught his shark in Malindi, Kenya, on March 24, 2001, whereas trolling a reside yellowfin tuna and utilizing a Fenwick rod with a 12/0 Everol reel and 130-pound Hello-Seas Regal line.
Caribbean Reef Shark (Carcharhinus perezii)
Caribbean reef sharks are just like bull and dusky sharks, with darkish grey to gray-brown backs that fade to a white stomach. Their snouts are quick and bluntly rounded. Not significantly long-lived, they mature in a number of years and have a lifespan of about 14 years or extra. They inhabit coral reefs within the Caribbean and off South America and, in line with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Fee, they’re not often discovered north of the Florida Keys. They eat quite a lot of reef fishes, together with barracuda, jacks, snapper, grunts, needlefish, and octopus.
Rene de Dios holds the all-tackle world document with a 154-pounder caught Dec. 9, 1996, at Molasses Reef in Florida. The shark was 54 inches lengthy with a 38.50-inch girth. The angler employed a {custom} rod with a Penn 12/0 reel spooled with 130-pound Ande line. The bait was a horse eye jack.
Dusky Shark (Carcharhinus obscurus)
Dusky sharks are wide-ranging and migratory, preferring temperate to tropical waters and starting from inshore areas to the outer continental shelf. Dusky shark fins are among the many most extremely prized; the fish are additionally used for leather-based and liver oil.
Warren Girle caught the all-tackle world document dusky on Could 28, 1982, off Longboat Key, Florida. The shark weighed 764 kilos and was 117 inches lengthy with a 72-inch girth. Girle’s instruments included a Fenwick rod, a 9/0 Penn reel, and 130-pound Dacron line. He was drift fishing with a bonito for bait.
Nice Hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran)
Hammerhead sharks are simply recognized by their laterally expanded head, which resembles (you guessed it) a hammer. The nice hammerhead shark is the most important of the 9 acknowledged hammerhead species. They will vary from coastal waters out to the continental cabinets and the adjoining deeper water, however appear to choose hotter water temperatures.
These sharks have strongly serrated tooth. Stingrays are a favourite prey, and hammerheads use their heads to pin down the rays earlier than killing and consuming them. They appear to be immune, or not less than detached, to stingray venom, as hammerheads have been noticed with barbs from the rays’ tails caught of their mouth.
Bucky Dennis holds the world document for the most important hammerhead with a 1,280-pound monster he caught on Could 23, 2006, off Boca Grande, Florida. This shark was 140 inches lengthy and had an enormous 94-inch girth. Dennis was utilizing a {custom} rod paired with a Penn reel spooled with 100-pound line. He was utilizing a stingray for bait. Dennis’ shark demolished the earlier document set by Roberto Estrada, who caught a 357-pound, 8-ounce hammerhead in Pinas Bay, Panama, in 1975.
Lemon Shark (Negaprion brevirostris)
Lemon sharks are simply recognized by their two equally sized dorsal fins. They prefer to forage in sandy inshore areas, locations which can be additionally well-liked with human swimmers and surfers. However, in line with the Worldwide Shark Assault File, solely 10 unprovoked assaults (none deadly) are attributed to lemon sharks, all occurring in Florida and the Caribbean.
Grownup lemon sharks common between 8 to 10 ft lengthy. Their vary stretches from New Jersey all the way down to Southern Brazil, and into the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. They’re additionally discovered alongside Senegal and the Ivory Coast of Africa within the jap Atlantic. North Pacific lemon sharks vary from the Gulf of California and Baja California south to Ecuador.
Colleen Harlow’s 405-pound lemon shark is the all-tackle world document. She caught the 94-inch shark on Nov. 23, 1988, off Buxton, North Carolina. Harlow was utilizing a Penn Senator rod with a 16/0 Penn Senator reel. The road was 80-pound Okay-Mart. She was backside fishing and utilizing a bluefish for bait.
Leopard Shark (Triakis semifasciata)
This lengthy, slender shark is discovered close to sandy bottoms of bays and estuaries within the jap Pacific. Its bodily options embrace black saddle marks on the again and sides, giving it a noticed look. It has a brief snout, triangular fins, and a notched, asymmetrical caudal (tail) fin.
Most of those sharks, that are sometimes caught and used for meals, are between 20 and 50 inches lengthy, however world-record-holder Maria de la Luz Johnson’s leopard shark measured 64 inches lengthy and weighed 44 kilos, 7 ounces. She caught the shark on Dec. 31, 2011, in California’s San Diego Bay. The gear included a G Loomis rod and an Abu Garcia reel spooled with 20-pound Stren line. Johnson was casting a useless surf perch when the leopard shark bit.
Mako Shark, shortfin (Isurus oxyrinchus)
Makos are discovered worldwide in tropical and temperate seas. They’re agile, quick, and acrobatic. Hooked makos are a handful, they usually’ll roll, dive and leap as excessive as 30 ft within the air. Tales abound of livid makos leaping into the boat, inflicting extreme accidents to anglers and crew and injury to the cockpit.
Makos are concurrently stunning and fearsome, with their again typically an excellent blue grey or cobalt blue with the colours tapering all the way down to a shiny white stomach. Their enormous jaws are stuffed with curved, razor-sharp tooth. Makos and different “mackerel” sharks such because the white and porbeagle are ovoviviparous, which means the eggs hatch inside the feminine and the pups are born alive. Though anglers within the Pacific can nonetheless goal makos, with a restrict of two fish per day and no measurement limits, touchdown and conserving Atlantic shortfin makos was banned in 2022.
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Luke Sweeney caught the world-record mako on July 21, 2001, off Chatham, Massachusetts. The shark weighed 1,221 kilos and was 131.89 inches lengthy. Sweeney fought the fish with a {custom} Kunnan rod and a Penn 80TW reel. He was drift fishing, with a bonito on the finish of the 130-pound Momoi line.
Porbeagle Shark (Lamna nasus)
Porbeagles, generally known as salmon sharks, herring sharks, or bonito sharks, reside in temperate Atlantic waters from South Carolina to Newfoundland, in addition to within the Pacific Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. This shark likes to observe its favored prey: faculties of mackerel, herring, salmon, cod, and different coldwater species. Porbeagles have a conical snout that ends in a pronounced, nearly upturned level. Like makos, porbeagles are recognized to go airborne when hooked.
The all-tackle world document is held by Christopher Bennett. He caught his porbeagle shark on March 9, 1993, off Pentland Firth in Caithness, Scotland. The shark weighed 230 kilos and measured 98 inches lengthy with an 87-inch girth. Bennett was fishing with a Penn Particular Senator D/L rod matched with a Penn 9/0 reel and Berkley 80-pound line. He was utilizing reside bait, however the actual kind of bait is just not listed within the document guide.
Sandbar Shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus)
Sandbar sharks are among the many largest species present in coastal waters, in line with NOAA Fisheries. They like sandy or muddy areas in heat, tropical waters world wide. They’re intently associated to dusky, bignose, and bull sharks. They’ve brownish-gray our bodies and white bellies, with a tall dorsal fin on their again and enormous pectoral fins. Their rounded snouts are shorter than most sharks. Sandbar sharks prey on bony fish, smaller sharks, squid, eels, skates, rays, shrimp, and crabs.
Grownup sandbar sharks can develop to eight ft lengthy and weigh as a lot as 200 kilos, in line with NOAA, which makes angler Patrick Sébile’s all-tackle document much more spectacular.
Sébile, a famous lure designer, caught his 529-pound, 1-ounce sandbar shark within the Archipelago des Bijagos, Guinea-Bissau on April 5, 2002. The shark was 95.28 inches lengthy with a 70.47-inch girth. Sébile was utilizing a barracuda for bait. His gear included a Sert Stand-Up Energy rod, a Gladiator 9/0 reel and 80-pound Asso line.
Sand Tiger Shark (Carcharias taurus)
Sand tigers are present in coastal areas in the USA from the Gulf of Maine to Florida and within the northern Gulf of Mexico. They will typically be discovered hanging round shipwrecks off North Carolina, within the space referred to as the Graveyard of the Atlantic. Based on NOAA Fisheries, their rows of jagged tooth belie a largely docile demeanor, they usually sometimes swim calmly round divers. These sharks eat fish similar to flounder, skates, monkfish, sea robins, scup, spot, bluefish, butterfish, and tautog.
Mark Thawley caught the all-tackle world document sand tiger shark off the Charleston Jetty in South Carolina on April 29, 1993. The shark weighed 350 kilos, 2 ounces and was 89.37 inches lengthy. Thawley was geared up with a Magnuflex rod and a Penn Senator 9/0 reel. The road was 80-pound Ande. He was backside fishing however the kind of bait he used is just not specified within the information.
Thresher Shark (Alopias spp.)
There are a number of thresher sharks: pelagic, Pacific, Atlantic, and longtail. The higher a part of the tails on threshers, particularly the aptly named longtails, are distinctive and lengthy. (With longtails, the higher lobes of their tails can stretch so long as the remainder of the complete fish.) Threshers are typically discovered offshore however will sometimes present themselves in inshore waters.
Thresher sharks use their lengthy tails to slap or “thrash” or their prey. They’ll typically herd bait fish into a good ball after which use their highly effective tails to stun or injure them earlier than consuming them. This “tail first” method is why anglers typically hook these sharks within the tail. Trolling or drifting are typical fishing strategies. Though most anglers use reside or reduce bait, the identical synthetic lures used for tuna and marlin also can work.
The largest recorded thresher was caught on Feb. 26, 1993, within the Bay of Islands, New Zealand by D.L. Hannah. The shark weighed 767 kilos, 3 ounces, was 112.59 inches lengthy and sported a 55.90-inch girth. Hannah was utilizing a Tasma rod with a Penn Worldwide 80 reel. The reel was spooled with 59-pound Amalon T line. Hannah was tolling a kahawai, also referred to as an Australian salmon.
Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier)
Tiger sharks are a broadly distributed and much roaming species that may be discovered worldwide in tropical and heat seas. They’ve a powerful set of chompers lining their enormous mouths, with 48 equivalent serrated tooth, uniquely designed for each chopping and sawing, positioned in rows on the higher and decrease jaws.
Tiger sharks are among the many most harmful fish to people, they usually’re second solely to white sharks when it comes to the variety of recorded assaults (statistically talking, nonetheless, shark assaults are nonetheless fairly uncommon). They commonly hunt in shallow waters had been individuals swim, they usually’ve been implicated in a number of deadly assaults in Australia, Florida, and Hawaii. Favored fishing strategies embrace reside bait fishing whereas chumming from boats or trolling.
The all-tackle document is held by Kevin James Clapson, who caught a 1,785 pound, 11-ounce tiger off Ulladulla, Australia, on March 28, 2004. The shark was 142.52 inches lengthy with a 110.24-inch girth. Clapson was fishing with a Beastmaster rod and Penn 80TS reel. The road was 37-kilogram (81-pound) Tortue. He was drift fishing, however the kind of bait he used isn’t specified within the information.
The all-tackle shut second tiger shark was caught June 4, 1964, whereas fishing off a pier in Cherry Grove, South Carolina, by angler Walter Maxwell. This fish weighed 1,780 kilos and was 166.5 inches lengthy with a 103-inch girth. Maxwell was utilizing a custom-built rod with a Penn Senator reel spooled with 130-pound Ashaway line. He was utilizing a skate for bait.
White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias)
Recognized by most as the good white shark, this fish has stored extra individuals out of the water than every other species and is the star villain within the 1975 basic, “Jaws.” It’s thought of probably the most highly effective predators on the planet. These sharks are routinely present in cooler, temperate coastal waters the place ample meals is positioned. This consists of a lot of the USA coast together with Chile, northern Japan, southern Australia, New Zealand, and southern Africa. Telemetry monitoring exhibits some particular person white sharks journey far and vast as they roam the oceans, however they sometimes return yearly to their temperate feeding grounds.
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The IGFA factors out that a method white sharks differ from different shark species are by their tooth, that are described as, “massive and triangular like stone arrowheads, with sharp, serrated chopping edges.” Solely the stomach on a white shark is white. The highest and sides are grayish brown they usually can develop to longer than 20 ft. (Sure, you’ll want an even bigger boat.)
They eat fish, squid, different sharks, sea turtles, seals, sea lions, and seagulls. They’ve additionally been recognized to assault swimmers and surfers, typically mistaking them for seals or different prey. When irritated, they’ve additionally been recognized to assault boats, sinking the small ones now and again and shaking bigger boats. The IGFA calls the white shark “ essentially the most harmful of all sharks so far as measurement, energy, capability and disposition to assault are involved.”
Angler Alfred Dean holds the all-tackle world document for white sharks, with a beast that weighed greater than a ton. (2,664 kilos to be actual.) The shark was 16 ft, 8 inches lengthy and had a girth of 114 inches. He caught the shark on April 21, 1959, off Ceduna, Australia. Dean was utilizing a fiberglass rod with a Penn 14/0 reel and 130-pound Ashaway line. He was utilizing a porpoise for bait. Nice whites at the moment are a prohibited species to focus on within the U.S. they usually’re protected internationally, which suggests they should be launched instantly if by chance caught.
FAQs
Whale sharks are far and away the most important member of the shark household. (This additionally makes them the most important fish of any variety.) They will develop greater than 60 ft lengthy, and the heaviest whale shark ever recorded was reportedly caught in Taiwan in 1985. It weighed 34 metric tons or almost 75,000 kilos. As a result of whale sharks are filter feeders that eat primarily plankton, they’re nearly by no means caught by anglers utilizing conventional sort out.
The most important shark ever caught on a rod-and-reel and confirmed by the IGFA is the white shark listed above. Alfred Dean’s 2,664-pound white shark additionally takes the No. 1 spot in a listing of the most important fish ever caught, and it’ll seemingly stay there for a while. Nice white sharks at the moment are federally protected in U.S. waters, and it’s unlawful to reap them in lots of different locations world wide, which suggests they’re now not accepted by the IGFA as potential information.
“Deep Blue” is a feminine white shark that’s considered the most important nice white ever recorded. The large shark has been featured in Shark Week, and it was first photographed off the coast of Mexico by a marine researcher. Though there are not any actual measurements for “Deep Blue,” it’s estimated that the shark is not less than 20 ft lengthy and a pair of.5 tons. The shark was final seen in 2019, and specialists imagine that whether it is nonetheless alive, it will be round 60 years previous.
Remaining Ideas on the Greatest Sharks Ever Caught
People, and particularly fishermen, have lengthy been obsessive about huge sharks. However resulting from inhabitants declines and overfishing, it’s now unlawful to reap many shark species world wide, which suggests there aren’t as many information being submitted as there have been in the course of the twentieth century. Massive sharks are nonetheless being caught, nonetheless, and in some areas, their populations are rebounding.