Now Thats a Pig!!!!

[jorluivil]

544-pound mako shark a new world record

Patrick Eger sets bowfishing mark off Southern California; 'He came in [and] starts hitting the boat, ramming the boat, sizing up the boat.'

July 25, 2014 by Pete Thomas

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/excur...-world-record/

Patrick Eger (right) poses with his trophy mako shark; photo via Facebook

The host of an outdoors television show has set a world record by catching a 544-pound mako shark … with bow and arrow.
Patrick Eger shot and reeled in the 10-foot mako in mid-June off Southern California. The catch, after a two-hour struggle, was recently approved as a world record by the Bowfishing Association of America. (It more than doubles the weight of the previous record.)
Eger, host of Big E TV and owner of Big E Outfitters in Central Wisconsin, posted a news release about his conquest Friday on the company Facebook page.


Business end of mako shark shown after its capture; photo via Facebook

The catch was videotaped and will be featured in an upcoming show.
The group was fishing far offshore, near Santa Catalina Island, and the mako shark appeared in a slick of chum deployed to attract sharks.
“The mako is a very aggressive shark,” Eger told his hometown Post Crescent. “They are not afraid of anything. He came in to where the chum is coming from and starts hitting the boat, ramming the boat, sizing up the boat.”






544-pound mako shark is a bowfishing world record; photo via Facebook

Eger, 47, was armed for the occasion. He released a broad-head arrow attached to a steel leader tied to 200-pound monofilament, which ran to a big-game reel.
“Unlike a lot of ocean fishing, there’s no chair, and you’re not strapped into anything,” Eger said. “I stood the entire time, and the only thing I was strapped to was the pole. If the shark pulls anything in, he’s pulling the pole and myself in.”
The captain of the vessel was “Mako” Matt Potter, who has put conventional anglers on much larger makos, including a 1,323-pounder caught last year. (That catch was not submitted for record consideration. The International Game Fish Association lists a 1,221-pound mako as the rod-and-reel world record.)
In Eger’s news release, he explained that he and Potter chose to “harvest” the shark only after determining that it was large enough to set a record.
Some of the wording in the release is sure to be criticized by shark experts and conservationists, as it portrays the shark as a bloodthirsty killer, instead of a predator simply searching for the source of the scent, posing no threat to humans.
“On several passes the Killer Shark rammed the boat and made it known that it had no fear of the crew or anyone onboard,” the news release states. “With cameras rolling from all angles as the dangerous predator made another pass at the boat, Eger drew and released a single arrow from his Xcentric Bow … and made a perfect shot.”
The official weight was 544 pounds, 8 ounces, and the shark measured 10 feet, 6 inches.
The shark meat was said to have been donated to needy families in the Los Angeles area, “other than some that was taken by Eger to enjoy himself.”