Tag: fishing

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12-year-old boy has one helluva whale shark of a tale


When man and wild animals cross paths, the results can often be tragic for the humans. However, sometimes the odds are simply stacked against the beasts and that’s when amazing things can happen for man, or should we say boy.

On New Year’s Day, 12-year-old Aidan Murray Medley was fishing off the coast of Florida with his family when he snagged a 551-pound bull shark. After a 45-minute battle with the nine-foot-long behemoth, Medley finally reeled in the monster that weighed a full 431 pounds more than he did.

When you have a shark on the line, it’s completely painful,” said Aidan, who said he lost feeling in his body after about 20 minutes of having the shark on his line.

The shark’s size set a new state record for the largest fish ever caught in Florida with the old record being set by a 517-pound shark that was hauled in back in 1981.

So what’s a 12-year-old to do with a shark that weighs 300 pounds more than him? Medley says he plans on having the shark stuffed and mounted on the wall of his boarding school in Greenwich.

Links:

[WCBSTV.com]: Conn. Boy, 12, Catches 551-Pound Bull Shark
[SPTimes.com]: Boy’s shark tale weighs 551 pounds

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Move over Jabberjaw, we’ve found another monster of the deep


Captain Robert Hill had the voyage of his life on Saturday when a crew of six buddies on his boat wrestled and eventually defeated an enormous 844-pound mako shark. The shark was a record at 11 feet long and it weighed an astonishing 638 pounds after being gutted, a full 338 pounds more than the old record.

Adlee Bruner was one of the friends on the boat when the shark was hooked about 70 miles southwest of the Florida Panhandle in the Gulf of Mexico. It took over an hour for the fellas to get the beast to give up and then it was so big that they couldn’t even pull it aboard. So, they tied the mako to the stern of the boat for the four-hour trip back.

It was tense,” Bruner, 47, said about the fight to land the shark, which has a mouthful of huge, fearsome teeth. “I’ve fished for 40 years. I’ve never see one that big.

It was like ‘Jaws,'” Hill said.

Wait, Jaws? Aww, man, we thought this was exciting and death defying and breathtaking. But how could that be? Jaws was more boring than watching an episode of Cavemen.

Links:

[CBS11TV.com]: Fishermen Land Record 844-Pound Shark In Florida

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Finally, someone didn’t let "the one that got away" get away


We not real big fans of fishin’ as a sport; after all, if that’s a sport then every 12-year-old kid sitting on his bed sucking down Dr. Peppers and playing his X-Box is an athlete. But we do enjoy getting out on the boat with rod in hand and partaking in a few adult beverages as a recreational activity. So, we were pretty impressed when we saw that a North Carolina man reeled in a largemouth bass that weighed, a state record, 15 pounds, 2 ounces. Of course, that excitement quickly faded when we read this.

David Ristig had the adventure of a lifetime last week when he wrestled and eventually conquered a 356-pound halibut out of the Gulf of Alaska! For a while, Ristig though he was fighting with a shark, but once the monster surfaced then Matt Flora, captain of the boat, knew that it wasn’t. And while we are totally impressed by this dude’s haul, we’re wondering if the Michael Vick protesters might have a problem with the captain’s methods of taming the wild fish.

After putting two gaffs into the halibut, it took three men to lift the 356-pound fish into the boat. Flora gave it a few Barry Bonds-like whacks with a baseball bat, knocking it dead.

Hey, it’s better than electrocution.

Links:

[ADN.com]: Monster flatfish

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Another sport for the Redneck Games: bowfishing

These guys are definitely not the catch and release type but they actually have invented a sport that’s rather clever. You have jumping carp, and bow and arrows — why not shoot them? We’re ashamed to admit it but it looks like a lot of fun. We’re rather surprised though that these guys were smart enough to attach fishing line to the arrows instead of just wasting each one. The twilight effect with the glowing arrows is especially cool.

You know it’s just a matter of time before a local newspaper reports on a fisherman with an arrow through his ass though.

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Another reason never to leave your couch


What two things never belong together? Well Najeh Davenport and a hamper… but also an eyeball and a fish hook. According to the U.S. Eye Injury Register, fishing has become the #1 source of sports-related eye injuries overtaking basketball. (See, Kurt Rambis wasn’t just stylish, he was smart.)

Here’s a little story that had us squirming around. You know what’s coming… just read it anyway:


Tuskegee University student Ralph Squire had forked out five bucks for the fishing lure that very morning. When the crankbait became entangled in a bush while he fished later that day, he wanted it back.

That decision will haunt him forever.

I had just bought the lure . . . and right off the bat I threw it up in a bush,” he remembers of the incident last May. “I kept pulling on it with the fishing line, trying to pull it loose from the bush.”

The lure eventually came loose and struck Squire in the face. When several friends rushed to his side, they made a gruesome discovery: A treble hook from the lure was buried deep in Squire’s right eyeball.

Ouuuuuuuuch. Ouch. Ouch. We wish we had a photo of it for you. Actually, no… no we don’t.

Links:

[Sign On San Diego]: Fishing is perilous to more than just fish