Mako Video

[SportFishStaff]

Not sure what the deal is with the swordie here, I guess it was a dead one floating and these guys happened on it. But there is a really cool couple of seconds of a Mako trying to eat this thing.

[seapower]

"Wanna go swimming? No worry's mate, dem Mako's are boat shy"! The frames where that fish just swam into view from the right was impressive, silent death. Frank

[Captain Fred Archer]

Yah, Frank, dem makos are pure fraidy cats when it comes to boats. That's believed by far too many and is simply a bunch of baloney. Apex predators of the first order have no fear of man or his boats, period. And in fact, their attraction to boats and their wakes simply has to be one of the reasons why trolling and power chumming are so effective for the game sharks. 'Course, if you want blue sharks, dog fish, and maybe the occasional mako and even rarer chum thresher (compared to the number you would catch trolling), plain old, stealthy drifting will do. Believe what you like about that, of course.

My novel, Grim Ripper, has a chapter in it that includes the true story of an attack on a large striped marlin that Captain Bobby Dobson and I were trying to release down in Cabo. It was one wild and wooly event that neither Bobby nor I will ever forget, I'll tell you that! It happened to be the biggest mako I have ever personally seen...and I have seen a half dozen or so over 1,000 lbs, mostly taken by swordfish harpoon buddies of mine and a few on rod and reel. Several are pictured in my shark and swordfishing books. They include one taken aboard a harpoon boat that spotted what they thought was a big seal sleeping on its back with its flippers waiving in the air, except as they got closer they saw that it was in fact a large swordfish that had both its head and tail lopped off. It was being circled by a huge mako that they crew harpooned, then had fight for a long, long time (I forget how many hours) before they finally beat it. They also recovered the swordfish, the remains of which weighed over five hundred pounds! The shark was way over 1,000#.

Makos are mucho bad news...they and sperm whales are the adult swordfish's (mighty bad news fish too) only natural enemies. The mako's biggest natural enemy is another mako, plus the same whale. Makos are big time shark assasins, including their own kind. In fact, mako sharks are "interuterine cannibals" that begin to cannibalize their brothers and sisters while they are still in the womb.

That's how Grim Ripper started out her life and began her grand adventure. I hope some of you read the book. The true life story of a mako shark makes for just about as exciting a salt water adventure as you can imagine!

[Makoexpress]

Very Nice!!

[Captain Fred Archer]

Many years ago what was then called the New Jersey State record mako shark (which it may or may not have been, but it was the biggest one caught up until that time) was caught in one of the canyons by a sport fisherman that spotted a very large blue marlin that had its tail bitten off struggling up top. When they pulled up to investigate the crew saw a large mako circling the dying marlin. They gaffed the marlin alongside, the mako followed and then ate a chunk of marlin that had been cut off the blue one. I don't recall the size of the fish, except that I believe that it was in the five hundred pound class...not a big one compared to some of today's makos.

Any other old timers out there recall any of the details of this catch?