First Tiger!

After my recent frustrations with cut cable and broken line, I was eager to get back on the beach as soon as possible and try to land a big shark.

My fiance and I got out there at around 5:50pm and were planning on staying until 8:00. I ran out a 5-7lb quarter section of a stingray that I had caught on Monday and began the waiting game.

At 7:45 my 9/0 started to go off and I put my belt on and got strapped in. I got a solid hookup and the battle began. The initial run took about 100 yards and barely got me down to my braid. I gained that line back and was maybe 50 yards back into my mono when I guess the shark finally figured out it was hooked. She headed out to sea and got me WAY down into my braid. She finally stopped and I had to walk backwards and then run forwards while reeling to gain line back. After doing that for a while, I finally got back into my mono and made some more progress.

Once it got into the shallower water, it ran again and got me back into my braid. The runs were getting shorter now and I finally started to be able to gain line back without having to walk and then run. We played tug a war for a while longer with me gaining and then more line peeling off.

At around 9:20 I finally grabbed the leader and got a look at it. I could not believe it was a big tiger shark! I put the rod in a holder and tail roped her and drug her onto the beach while leaving her head in the water. My fiance Alicia helped take measurements and snapped a few pics while I was working on getting the hook out. I tagged her and she swam off strong into the darkness.

She measured out at 108" (9 feet) from nose to tip of tail and was 88" at the fork. She had a 46" girth and got NOAA Apex tag #359100.

I am super sore today and am still on cloud 9 from the experience. I would not have been able to land and safely release the shark if Alicia wasn't there to help and her patience and support is something I am truly grateful for. I would also like to thank all of you who have taken the time to post reports and other threads that have helped me learn about this amazing sport.