triple slam in Venezuela 1997 or 31 sails in a day Mexico 98
Occupation
Marine Surveyor and Charterboat Captain
I know it is apples and oranges, but a guy who ran my dad's boat years ago in islamorada free gaffed a 232 mako and it was subdued rather quickly, but it did come in and out of the boat a few times on the flyer rope!!
To me it is no different than pooning a free swimming giant or swordy- no hook involved, fish is harvested and eaten... right?
Like franky said, i know a guy who free gaffed a mako around 200 lbs that was chewing on the chum bucket like would a bluedog. His wrapped itself up in the running gear and was a total mess from what i understand.... I can say without a doubt you wont catch me sticking a green mako shark. 200 lbs, 750, hell even 100. Those things are maniacs and will jump right over the gunnel ripping your face off as it flies by. No thanks.
I think every single guy on this board would want to catch that shark, any means possible if they were out fishing for a trophy like that all day and then it actually appeared and presented a chance for them to take it. However it was caught....it was CAUGHT, killed, hung on the scale, steaked out, and consumed! So all in all, same result minus the angler and crew having one hell of a fight on rod and reel.
Those big fish are not as crazy as a 300pounder boatside...Terri Layton and Jim Hughs out of OCMD killed a 876 or 867 this year in a center console that made one quick run, got him to the boat stuck him with a flyer and the fish never moved... theres a time for every fish when it is time to die...
I killed a sword last week estimated 225-250 never weighed it on 50# main and 50# leader on a penn 16 on a 30# rod...it was just that time for that fish to die
Its a hard call... We had one a whole lot smaller back in the late seventies run down and start muchin a sword in front of us... We gaffed the sword and the mako was bound and determined to hang at us. It too wanted no part of a skippy but did eat a chunk of the sword. Bowed up but don't think the hook set... Mako swam back to the boat. Poked and proded it ran a flyer home expecting fireworks but it never even wiggled.
Had a biggish mako one day of 300+ eat two baits and also just swam to the boat... Same game, poked and proded but no run. Poked it too also expecting the worst but again no anything?
On the other hand we have had little sub hundred fish go absolutely ape too many times to count... Individual fish react differently...
I'm gonna toss a technical possibility into the fray... Fish feeding on a carcass... Whites have been doccumented working on whales to the point of "tonic immobility". Growing lethargic almost like they're stoned. Some have been doccumented as even sexually arroused... Possibly this ol isurus was gorged to the gills...