Islamorada was the scene of a huge Mako shark that was caught on the charter boat Reel Mc Coy with Captain George Mcelveen at the helm.South Florida Shark Club member Kiki Ferrer is the first mate on the 46 foot Markley which fishes out of Bud and Mary's marina in Islamorada.The crew spotted the shark swimming on the surface 17 miles offshore in 950 feet of water and thought it was a Great White shark at first but as they got closer realized it was a tremendous sized Mako shark.They baited the shark with a slab of bonita and all hell broke loose when the Captain put the boat in gear and gunned the throttles to set the hook. The angler from Ft Lauderdale fought the shark for close to three hours all the time the shark kept flying out of the water in a spectacular display of acrobatics.The shark was subdued after three harpoons and the crew managed to cleat it off for the ride back to the dock.The mako considered equivelent in taste to the swordfish provided fresh fillets for quite a few families.This Mako surpasses the keys record Mako of 832 lbs caught at the Islamorada Hump in the 1990 University of Miami Shark Tournament by Capt Ron Taylor. Congratulations to the angler ,the Captain and the crew.Thanks for the pictures Kiki.
The high flying spectacle only a mako can provide.
Once in a lifetime catch. 850 lbs of blue missile.