Donovan’s first mako, popped the boat!

[Chris]

Went out of oside per usual. We were looking for YFT and ran across some breezers. Put out a savage speed runner and cedar plug then noticed a mako on top. Cruised up to say hi and let my son check it out and then moved on. 30 seconds later the savage gets hit and I immediately knew what it was.....
my son fought it the best he could and I helped him a little.
I'd have preferred a release but she came up wrapped and cutting it would have been a death sentence in my mind so I stuck a flying gaff in it because they make better steaks than crab food. Things went south after that. The hook didn't release and my daisy chained rope didn't start letting out. The shark spun and went under the boat and I heard a hiss. Not sure if the gaff hook hit the boat or a tooth but we lost air in the rear chamber. Right after that the gaff functioned as designed and the mako was bleeding out 50ft away from the boat like it should have been from the start.

Some boat came in to poach whatever we were on then left when they saw it was a shark. Funny because they drove over tuna when they left.  Waved to a few others as we limped in. Kinda funny riding a 1/4 sunk boat in and people just wave and go by. 😅 I knew we were good though and already had made contact with another boat incase we lost the engine.

Of course I got video. It's everything people complained about in my video thread on BD. Wind noise, bad focus, probably uploaded with poor quality... but here it is!.

https://youtu.be/mnkO6asCEls

[sasquatch]

Congrats.

Lucky kid.

[Latimeria]

Great video and will be front cover on Prehistoric Soul!

Kid is destined to win the Rod Contest !

Kind of scary on the way in though.....

[Tim524]

 Wow, the Boy will remember that trip forever, glad you made it back safe !

[vdisney]

Great video, your son is the bomb.  Glad you guys made it home safe

[Chris]

Great video and will be front cover on Prehistoric Soul!

Kid is destined to win the Rod Contest !

Kind of scary on the way in though.....

So awesome! Thanks Tom!

It was a little sketchy coming in but at the same time I was impressed with how it handled bigger seas with no air in the that chamber. My main concern was keeping Donovan calm and not making the situation any more terrifying than it might have already been for him. If it was just me I'd have put the shark in the boat and gone a lot faster.

I'm going to work on the jaws this week and make him a little plaque with the jaws a pic and the lure mounted on it.

[KogaHead]

Gaff them in the head, they love to roll.

Hold gaff loosely so when they roll it spins in your hands.

Best if you go through the lower and upper jaw.

Second best spot is in the tail, get their prop out of the water.

[Chris]

Gaff them in the head, they love to roll.

Hold gaff loosely so when they roll it spins in your hands.

Best if you go through the lower and upper jaw.

Second best spot is in the tail, get their prop out of the water.

I gaffed it through the gills to get it to bleed out. It's a flying gaff and got gummed up so it didn't slip out like it should have. Lesson learned. Clean it once a week.
Prop was in the water to keep the boat moving.
Once it was gaffed and calmed down I brought it in, threw a couple half hitches around the tail with the same gaff rope and towed it.

[Donfish]

Great Job DAD! Thats the kinna sh!t we wished we had grew up on! I lived a sketchy sea life fishing makos on a small 18' Glaspar in the 80's longlineing them before permits were needed and since been outlawed but as a fisherman you are always legal to carry a firearm. I always dispatched makos boatside with a .22 hollow point to the spine triangularly back from the eyes. Larger specimens might need a .30 carbine but knocking out the spine turns them off. Gills are Very sensitive on sharks and hitting them can turn their nerves back on as i have had 2 hr dead sharks light up when trimming them for Market. Those critters are spun up tight and shouldn't even cook them for 24hrs as the meat will twitch and not cook right. Pop em in the spine tailrope and gut has always worked for me. Fresher ones I put a bucket over their head and secure tight to their tail with the tail rope.