This is a story that appeared in The Florida Sportsman magazine in 2008 it gives an insight into one of the most legendary hammerhead sharks in all of Florida .Many guys in the shark club have there own stories of there run ins with the huge hammer that could not be stopped from the old Bahia Honda bridge.
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
This was an absolutely awesome article, William. Thanks for sharing it with everybody.
I have read several stories over the years concerning Big Mo and another hammerhead on the West Coast called Ol' Hitler reported to be bigger than Big Mo. My question is does anyone know if Big Mo is still around? Have there been any recent sightings of him? or has he passed on and now a true legend as the article mentions?
I used to see real big Hammerhead sharks (12-15 feet) at Bahia Honda bridge (Florida Keys)while fishing from the top of that bridge before the ends were cut off in 1985 ,,,,,,,,,,,but never saw an 18 or 20 foot hammer.Rene and few other guys said they seen Old Mo but I personally never did .Then again we did'nt need to see him every couple of months we were having 14/0's stripped to the knot and that was not Old Mo then what was Old Mo capable of.A typical 14 or 14 1/2 foot shark weighing 1000 lbs or more can spool you in that vicious current in under 6 minuites so anything bigger you better be on a boat and ready to chase it or it's nearly impossible to do.I personally believe mst of it is mythology and believe that there have been extra large hammers (15-18 feet)in the keys bridges and on the west coast but they are far and few between,,,,,,,most of the giants range from 13 to 15 feet and on the upper end it's enough to break the current record of 1280 lbs; it's just a matter of time and wanting it bad enough.Captain Randy Rodes spent more time then anyone else fishing for tarpon in between the Bahia Honda bridges and what he says carries alot of weight from first hand expierience but i say people love to exagerate.When i see the first 18 footer brought to a scale then I will believe more of those Old Mo and Old Hitler stories but for know I'm content to chase the standard 13 to 15 footers that have destroyed us on so many occasions .
An almost 14 foot hammerhead
A 13 footer attacked by a huge Tiger shark boatside
At the high end of the size scale this hammer is one of the biggest ever
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
thats a cool post
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