South Carolinas only shark tourny is held in June. Won it this year for the 2nd year in a row with a 520 pounder. We had lines in at first light. The goal; try and drag in a 1,000 pounder. I wrapped into a nice 800 pounder the weekend before and I released it quickly in hopes of catching her on tourny day. The first couple of sharks were 250lb Lemons, then a couple of 80LB Blacktips. The first tiger was a small one, around 200. The next one was around 350lbs. Both released without even considering. At 9am, after 2 tigers, a few Lemons and Blacktips....we had 2 tigers on at the same time. One was around 300, the larger one we decided to keep. My buddy that fishes with me was adamant on releasing it and getting a larger one, but I didnt have the guts to cut it loose. If we hit a larger one, I dont know if we would have made it to the weigh-in on time. A 2 hour ride to the weigh-in, plus fighting time, plus wrapping in to the side of the boat....I didnt want to take the chance. I guessed the larger shark weight between 500-600 pounds....she was 520, but a lot of her guts got blown out on the ride home. I'm thinking 575-600 if the guts stayed in. For those who hate to see a dead shark; I hate it and I wouldnt kill it unless I knew the shark would be a winner. The money is very nice and the free advertisement is better.
i see some bulls or lemons in the background, was there any weigh-in close to yours?
Just an average fisherman.
nice tiger but it looks like it is pregnant.
i see some bulls or lemons in the background, was there any weigh-in close to yours?
Half a dozen were weighed in, mostly around 250 to 300.
nice tiger but it looks like it is pregnant.
That was my fear when making the call to keep her. Quite a few people were waiting to see what was in her stomach after the weigh-in was over. I was praying it wasnt going to be pregnant....and believe it or not, it was completely empty, only my bait was in her. That huge mass in her stomach is the remaining organs left over from the ride in...the rest got blown out. I'm thinking that if the rest of it didnt fall out, the shark might be more proportionate. I'm not sure?
By the way---the meat was given to a local family that was begging to have it.
Congratulations on the win.Thanks for sharing with us Captain.
SOUTH FLORIDA SHARK CLUB -President SFSC-Founding Member est 1983 SFSC-Website Administrator BIG HAMMER SHARK TOURNAMENT -Founder Rene Memorial Sharkathon -Founder NMFS Shark Tagger
congrats Capt,nice tiger.Hope to head your way one day some summer to charter you out.......Dave
congrats