SHORTFIN MAKO REDEMPTION (Upper Keys)

[hof]

Two weeks ago, after being nearly spooled on the 50 wide, we decided that we had finally zeroed in on the “sword zone” in our fishing area, but really needed to prepare for the leviathan that had broken us off 2 weeks ago after a run like none other we had ever seen. So this past Friday night, after having had Tek scramble around to get us the rigged Poon dart and other necessities, Hof, myself and crew headed out in search of our elusive September Swordfish and some redemption for the last trip. By the time we left the dock at about 6:30 pm, and gathered up just a few live baits, we were looking at 21+ knot winds and 6-8 foot seas—a bit more than the 2-4 seas that had been predicted.

We had a VERY slow ride through the slop to our sword grounds, where we set up with 3 squid -2 on discos and 1 on a blue/green /white combo with a live bait on a purple Lp light to round things out…Absolutely nothing on the first drift…..we felt we were too deep, so we moved shallower and reset—which under those conditions, seemed like it took forever.

One by one, the crew lost interest and went below deck for some relief. For a couple more hours there were no other boats—except for the occasional freighter or cruise ship.

Suddenly, at about 1:30 am the drag on the live bait rod started to scream, and like an alarm clock, everybody was up and there was instant chaos in the cockpit. The line went tight, and after a few minutes of what we knew was a sword, we figured we were going to be able to put one in the boat and chug home. Well, after getting Hof into the harness, within a few minutes the line went slack. We recovered our stunned bait with the distinct diagonal slash on it. We considered changing out the circle hook, but decided against it.

After the bite, most of the crew quickly fell back into their slumbering posts as Hof and I moved the boat back for another drift over the area of the bite, re-rigged squid and another live bait and reset the rods. We watched with anticipation as we passed over “the spot,” but nothing…..so Hof and I took shifts monitoring the radar, and trying to get comfortable in the miserable rocking swells .

It was really quiet and looking pretty dismal for at least 2 hours… then at 5 am the live bait rod (with the purple light), which was about 75 feet deep, started to creep off the reel with gradual increasing speed but it didn’t seem like a swordfish bite. Because I had been monitoring the radar and was closest to the rod, I cranked and it came tight. As everyone woke up, we put one of the crew, Chris, in the stand-up harness on the rod and had everyone else clearing rods from the cockpit. The fish took about 150 yards on its first run and seemed to actually try to circle towards the boat after about 15 minutes of runs. Dramatically, the glow of the puple lp light appeared out of the dark near the surface about 15 yards behind the stern. As the purple glow was passing across the stern of the boat, the fish literally sky rocketed 10 feet out of the water and came crashing down in “cannonball” style to start its second run. At that time Hof frantically yelled “MAKO !!!!” and the adrenalin buzz took over everyone. No one on board had ever caught a Mako, or even remotely appreciated what to expect but we were all about to quickly find out. It was immediately obvious why this fish is sometimes referred to as “Blue Dynamite” !!!




It took about another 20 minutes to get the shark near the boat and then it ran again. We did this two more times for at least 45 minutes. The seas that evening ( weather radio reported a 21 knot winds which was confirmed by a passing freighter) made maneuvering MISERABLE! Even with a sea anchor. As the fish got closer to the boat, Hof removed the float, then the weight and I could only verbally relay what I had heard about harpooning since none of us had needed to use one before— the Poon was brand new. “ Cleat it off, keep the line CLEAR, and go for the gill plate !”, I told Tom, who had just come out of hibernation. “Are you up for this?!!” I asked him.

Finally, an opportunity…the fish came boat side…but when Tom tried to harpoon the shark, the harpoon simply deflected off the shark’s body and we thought it was all over—a 300 lb mono leader is no match for Mako jaws!!!. The shark sprinted about 30 yards away, with the lp light still in tow, but the hook and leader held. The shark then turned back toward the boat, and jumped off the corner of the transom, over Tom’s shoulder. By some stroke of luck the leader and hook continued to hold . For another 15 minutes, the shark ran again and this time we got close enough to retrieve the lp light. The shark made one more run and went under the boat near the starboard prop, but we were able to plane him back up behind transom. This (second) time Tom had “the money shot” and planted the Poon deeply through the gills, at which time the leader to the rod immediately broke. Tom confirmed a hit this time—“We have blood!” he said.

Initially, the shark seemed stunned, and swam away slowly and the poon line came tight. As we cautiously pulled the poon rope toward the boat, the shark rolled belly-up and seemed totally subdued. But once boat side it rolled upright again and immediately regained strength and then proceeded to fight on the harpoon rope for quite a while longer. “Now what?” we were ALL thinking. He seemed hold to his own on the end of the poon line and we were eventually able to bring him to the stern for what we thought would be a “security gaff”. One gaff to the belly and….the fish swiped its powerful tail— ripping the gaff out of our hands and soaking everyone as we watched in astonishment and sprinted back towards the darkness— and actually managed to jump in the process !!! “HOLY S*%#!!!” Would the poon dart hold? Will anyone believe us? Amazingly, the poon dart held— proving that Tom’s poon shot was in fact “the money shot”!!! Ok, so we lost one gaff when shark jumped one more time a few feet from the back of the transom until we could rope its tail. We brought it through the transom door for sunrise and iced it down…what an amazing experience!!!

This is the type of experience that keeps us coming back for more…..

[Flatsfish B]

Great story! A good dart shot is a solid shot, I'm still after the short fin, released a long fin last winter and I'm hoping to get a shortfin here soon!

[JupiterSailfish]

That is awesome! Amazing story

[JahMussa]

EXCELLENT REPORT!!!!

[fishensticker]

Hof and I forgot to mention in the post that we had a fly-gaff but didn't bring it :???:

[Shark Tagger]

awesome!!!!! we haven't had a mako to the boat in some time now... great report and pictures.

[Disco Lady]

Cheers!!!!!!! Nice Mako..... Brother.

[Shortfin]

Way to go Wayde and Crew

The first Mako is like drinkin Scotch after the first one the rest go down a little smoother

Again Nice Job

[reeltherapy]

:thumright: Great outing and great memories! Congrats to ya Hof. Wow at what choppers that bad boy had! I just got a dart like the one you used there. All them teeth makes me wanna get one more handle for it :shock:
I'm hoping to use it in a few weeks!
RT

[nightbite]

Nice Mako!!

I cant believe the mono held up that long on a mako that big. We caught a 65 pounder while tuna fishing and he sliced right through the 200lb mono like nothing.

[JahMussa]

Wayde... were you using the plain Owner Super Mutu or the swiveled version when you caught the Mako?

-Tek

[CaptainEd]

I cant believe the mono held up that long on a mako that big

That was a combination of good luck and the harpoon. I've lost some on mono and I have landed a +400lber on it. One thing I've learned, especially as they get bigger once you dart them, they explode at the side of the boat. No poon and you're screwed...

[fishensticker]

Tek,

We were using a swiveled Mutu. I'll see if we can post a photo of it with the shredded leader.



Capt Ed,

You have NO idea how many times we should have lost this fish and didn't. At one point after the fish had been stuck, he swam the harpoon line under the prop and we were looking at each other, like...ok how bad do we want this fish :shock: :shock: :shock:

[DORADOsteve]

Good going on the mako.

The 39 Royale has to be one of my all-time favorite boats.

[gssk7179]

Nice, I am still waiting to see one. Way to hang in there with the weather you had.

[JahMussa]

Would love to see a picture of the hook placement if you have it.

-Tek

[Tunachaser]

Reel Nice! Congrats on the 'Redemption Song' :high

[Sword Donkey]

Stories like this, reinforce my decison to buy a harpoon. Seems that your story has motivated us, we will be getting one soon.

Oh.. Nice Mako, pretty work!

[neptune]

Great story and pics, excellent report, one tough fish no sh!t !

[SFLMAN]

GREAT FISH !!!