Tuna fishing

[Mountain Goat]

So my brother and I went tuna fishing for the first time with a friend.  We were about 80 miles out  off the coast of NJ.  We had a blast and caught our bluefin limit.  The pic is a tuna that my brother was fighting for around 40 minutes.  When the fish was about to get gaffed a giant Tiger shark appeared out of nowhere and helped himself to a snack!  That was one bite and all that was left!!  It was a very nice tuna and would have been the biggest of the day.  Scared the crap out of me...haha 

[Bucksnbows]

I know guys have been complaining about a lot of makos in their tuna slicks, eating their catches before they could be boated.  

[Mountain Goat]

14 minutes ago, Bucksnbows said:

I know guys have been complaining about a lot of makos in their tuna slicks, eating their catches before they could be boated.  

There were two makos nearby as well but lost out when the much larger shark showed up.

[JHbowhunter]

Nice trip...

 

SHARK LIVES MATTER - shark's gotta eat

[SPEARFISH]

Gotta pay the tax man.

[hunterbob1]

One time on a charter thick into the yellowfins. I was midship starboard side guy next to me was hooked up almost had it to the boat about 40 yards p instead of the tuna sounding I said hey look at that tuna tail dancing it to the boat. 20 yards now all hell broke loose giant mouth of teeth ate 1/2 the tuna the water turned red,the shark wanted the other half   he didn't care about boat lights yelling get the gaff, never seen mates move so fast they had three bamboo gaffs in the shark, it probably would have gotten away it snapped those gaffs just before getting harpooned. Nice bonus for the captain and crew. 7 ft 400 lb mako.

Edited July 6, 2020 by hunterbob1

[nmc02]

Congrats on the tuna. Always see something new out there. Ever since I caught my first tuna, hooked....

[deadonshot2]

Sounds like a great first trip. That tiger shark ripping through that tuna must have been a great sight.

[Lunatic]

Main thing you had a good time and caught some fish. Seeing shark do this is cool

[tpr1921]

Congratulations on a great trip.

[Buck154]

Nice trip. I headd from 2-3 other guys had the same problem with Makos or Hammerheads taking the tuna on them.

[JHbowhunter]

I can only surmise, based on the bite radius and size of that tuna, that Tiger shark was probably at least 11 feet long (minimum) and possibly bigger.   That must have been something to see.   I would say water temp had to be at least 76 for a tiger to be there - otherwise it was a GWS or Mako.    Also - larger tigers don't have the stripes the lose them around 9'...  What was the tiger determination?  The head is usually a dead give-away.      Back in 1991 my buddies and I fought what we thought was a giant tiger all day long out by the triple wrecks only to get it up to leader and realize it was indeed a GWS - 11-13' because it was wider than the 11' beam of the boat!     Coolest thing was acres of bottlenose dolphin exploding all around us just minutes before the shark hit.. I am betting that shark was hunting young dolphin. 

[JHbowhunter]

6 hours ago, hunterbob1 said:

. 7 ft 400 lb mako.

Come on Bob - check you math on that one!    either side of the equation is wrong lol.   7' weighs about 210-240 lbs. 

[nmc02]

1 hour ago, JHbowhunter said:

Come on Bob - check you math on that one!    either side of the equation is wrong lol.   7' weighs about 210-240 lbs. 

Maybe it was a short fin football mako. Maybe was longer than his estimate....8 ft could be upper 300s

[nmc02]

I have seen MANY and hooked a few great whites, but never had one steal a tuna. Lost a few tuna to a hammerhead in the Hudson. Once fought a great white for an hour on  Ronz jig (wanted pics & to tell the story)....broke me off. Sharks are neat animals. Makos are delicious