14 DAY TRIAL // A Florida fisherman standing on the waterfront managed to break the world record for the largest mako shark catch in the world when he captured an 11-foot, 805-pound (3.35-meter, 365-kg) monster shark on Tuesday night.
Joey Polk, from Milton, Florida, was fishing from the shore off the Gulf Coast together with his cousin Earnie Polk when the monster mako shark hooked in his fishing rod. The two men managed to reel in the shark after a one-hour battle, in which the sea monster pulled out around 2,700 feet (822 meters) of fishing line.
“She was pulling line out of my reel at easily 60 miles an hour [96km/h]. We call that 'smokin' the drag' round here,” Polk said, according to New York Post.
“When I saw it, I knew it was a big fish. I’ve been fishing since I was a little kid, but I thought it was maybe 700 pounds [317 kg] or so, then when we weighed it, it came in at 805 [365 kg]! It was amazing,” he added.
The experienced fisherman says that, usually, he and his cousin release the sharks they catch, but this one was too injured to be revived, so they decided to keep it and cook it for his family and friends.
He and his cousin refused to disclose the spot where they caught the giant shark because they wanted to prevent other fishermen from flocking there and scare off tourists.
Polk also mentioned that his haul was recognized by the International Land-Based Shark Fishing Association as the largest mako catch ever.