Well , my brother and crew finally did what they have been trying to acomplish this year . They got a satellite tag in a Gulf of Mexico shortfin mako , the first ever . The waiting game is on this week . They are hoping the tag does not communicate back for a week . If it transmits back to soon , that means the tag detatched and surfaced meaning the fish was not moving and presumed to have died . So no news is good news so far . They said he swam off strong. Looks like they might have done it . The tag will collect data for 170 days then detatch and surface . All the data will then be recovered . Here's the report and a link to the pictures.
Jeff
Part 2: Victory At Sea
by mshindle on Mon Mar 15, 2010 6:06 pm
Less than two weeks ago, we came closer than ever to getting a SAT archival tag into a Shortfin Mako shark. Knowing that they will soon disappear to their summer time haunts, we were beginning to run out of time. I was hoping that we wouldn't have to wait until next year to try again. Weather conditions gave us the shot we needed to make another attempt. Arriving on the island I found myself in full blown Spring Break madness! While decades ago I ran towards this chaos with reckless abandon, this time I only wanted to run FROM it! We prepped tackle and waited for an early morning departure time. Blood pressure and anxiety made for little sleep. I do remember dreaming about a giant Mako in a trout stream near a castle. I'll spare you the weirder parts ha ha.
We headed out into fairly rough seas. The crew aboard the Fugazi was as big as I can ever remember. This time we were going to bring some extra muscle in hopes of accomplishing our "feat of insanity". Captain ''Moose", myself, Russel "Yakmon" Weir, Todd Neahr, Todd Horn, and Rush Battle. The boat was loaded and heavy as we blasted our way offshore. Creepy overcast conditions on the fishing grounds made us wonder just what might unfold today. Yakmon has joined us on numerous Mako trips, but for some reason the Fishing Godz would never give him a Mako. Well, today was the day, because soon he was hooked up! The crew did a great job of organizing the deck and preparing for battle. Each one of us us had a particular duty, and with a crowded boat, communication amongst ourselves was paramount. It was awhile before the beast would show itself, but when the dorsal and tail fins popped up, we knew this was a stout fish. Get ready for the long haul Russ, hope you ate your wheaties! The strong fish didn't even realize it was in a fight for awhile as it used its mass to power effortlessly through the salty black water. Once the shark realized what was up, the real fight began. Peeling line on top, and then sounding deep, then up, then down again....We kept our eyes on Russ to make sure that he was hydrated and didn't need anything. This was a long time coming for him and I could see he was quite ecstatic. Suddenly the sea beast turned on the afterburners and we knew what was going to happen. Way out, the shark blasted its bulk skyward in a massive spray of water and foam. Then we finally got the look we were waiting for. This fish was heavy and might simply be too dangerous to play with boat side. The fight continued passed the hour mark, then another half hour passed. Slowly but surely, between Horn's boat maneuvering, and Russ's ability to gain line we began to tire the sea monster a bit. It was extremely important to tire the fish as much as safely possible in order to prevent the certain destruction we knew might very well happen. However, I knew that the longer the fight lasted, the better the chance of the single barbless hook coming out on a head shake or roll. The fish was much closer now and we tried to anticipate just what we needed for the end game. This fish was at least nine feet and well over 400#! Our guess was a female, though we had not made a positve ID yet. I was nervous for everyone on board. There would be no room for error. Zero.
As the shark began to decide which side of the boat it liked best, we also realized that with it this close, it would be hard to get out of the way if it tried to land on us and crush us like the abyssal depths. I simply told my fishing buddies that I would run THROUGH them if she launched. After a few moments of absolute dead silence, I said something like, "Well are we gonna' do this or what!?". We were going to try. It was now or never. Moose and Neahr had their equipment ready for the capture/tag. I swear I could hear a bomb ticking. Russ moved forward and I grabbed the leader. It was now a "caught fish", but congratulations would have to wait. The fish was quite a toad with heavy girth. I had pulled the fish up and had it there for what seemed like an eternity. It would have no more, and with violent head shakes and a burst of power, it took off again and rolled violently! It was at this moment that we could see that it was a huge male Shortfin. We fought the shark again briefly, but soon I had the heavy cable in my hands again. Moose on my left and Neahr on my right, Russ moving towards the bow, Horn and Battle at the ready, the fire fight had begun on the starboard gunwale of the Fugazi. Soon Neahr had one tail rope on! Time went into slow motion. The fish boiled with anger, biting, and slashing. Moose took the leader from my hands and I tried to get another rope around her midsection. She surged, and we had to drop the fish for a moment. In mere seconds we had the fish in position again. This time I got the rope around her midsection and pulled it tight! We had her cleated off, and Todd Neahr's work began. Under extremely tense moments, we held our ground with the Mako. After the longest few minutes in my life, Todd had secured the "basic" shark tag. Then he had the SAT tag in, and activated! Even having to seal it with silicone! A third tag that accompanies the Sat tag was inserted as well! The leader was cut as close as safely possible. Neahr released the tail rope, and I managed to loosen the rope around her belly. The rope was then cut in order to slide off of her. The fish surged and kicked. Like the most perfect, beautiful creature of the sea, he swam right off and was gone!!! I let out a scream like a banshee, and the crew roared as well! We counted bodies, heads, limbs and fingers. We had done it!!! We believe that not only is this the first Mako SAT tagged in Texas waters, but in the entire Gulf of Mexico! With luck, a wealth of data can be collected in the future from this fish. Todd Neahr could fill you in better on how these tags work and the type of data collected. We were overjoyed! I could not hold back the tears of joy, as this may be right near the top of all time fishing adventures for me. Every crew member had stood their ground and performed flawlessly. The celebration began!!! We decided to end the day early. We would not even try for any eating fish. Today we would not take from the sea, but instead give back to it! We cruised back to port simply overjoyed and overwhelmed at what had just happened. Yakmon's back was sore, but I told him to enjoy this particular backache as it was well earned. Our best estimate on this Mako's size was about 9' 2'' and @ 440 lbs. Hopefully he will make his way back into the depths and elude another hook. If by chance you hook a Mako with some funny looking "remoras", please let him go! In fact we are about done with Makos for the year. Time to let them alone. Hopefully the other freshly minted internet Mako fishermen will to. Or, learn to tag and release these sharks . Are you listening Port Aransas? Probably not. I know one thing for sure, it is cool to know that "our" shark is back to his role as one of the ocean's most amazing sea creatures. Thanks Moose and crew for a most incredible fishing memory! And a Spring Break story to tell. Adios amigos... Michael Shindle
Pictures http://rawmonster.com/3-14-2010%20Mako% ... index.html