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Bow angler shoots world-record mako shark

Shark tips scale at 809.5 pounds; Jeff Thomason is the second TV hunting show host to set a bowfishing record off Southern California

</HGROUP><TIME date="2014-09-30">September 30, 2014</TIME> by Pete Thomas

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809.5-pound mako shark was shot off Huntington Beach; photo courtesy of Jeff Thomason

For the second time this summer, the host of a television hunting show has traveled to California and used a bowfishing outfit to capture a world-record mako shark.
Also for the second time, the bow angler is being assailed via social media by shark fans and conservationists.
Jeff Thomason is the latest record-setter. The 809.5-pound mako shark he shot and reeled in recently off Huntington Beach has been approved by the Bowfishing Association of America as the new record.


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Large mako shark swims near boat off Huntington Beach; photo courtesy of Jeff Thomason



Thomason, who is from Texas and hosts the show, “Predator Pursuit,” shattered the previous mark: a 544-pound mako shark landed in mid-June by Patrick Eger, the host Big E TV in Wisconsin.
Large mako sharks roam pelagic waters off Southern California, making the area popular among local and visiting anglers.
Most local anglers and shark-fishing outfitters, however, maintain a low profile because of an increasingly vociferous anti-shark-fishing element.


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About 400 punds of meat from world-record mako shark was donated to a shelter for homeless; photo courtesy of Jeff Thomason

Fishing for mako sharks is legal, but all species of sharks are believed to have been over-fished to some degree over the years, and news of the capture of a large shark for record consideration, or as a trophy, invariably draws sharp criticism.
When word of Thomason’s catch began to spread on the Internet this past week, it was met with the same type of disapproval that accompanied Eger’s catch.
“Why all this stupid macho thing?” reads one of dozens of Facebook comments on the White Shark Interest Group page, which has more than 18,000 members.
“Why didn’t he get in the water and shoot it with that bow?” reads another.”
There was at least one comment in defense of Thomason: “Makos aren’t threatened and [they’re ] widely eaten… This WAS NOT finning and the meat [was] not wasted.”
The global shark-finning trade is the reason many shark species are in peril. Estimates place the number of sharks killed for their fins, to be used in soup in Asian markets, at nearly 100 million per year.
Thomason told Lone Star Outdoors that his group, which like Eger’s group was fishing with guide “Mako” Matt Potter, encountered a few great white sharks during its expedition, but could not shoot them because white sharks, unlike makos, are protected.
The mako was lured to the boat by chumming fish parts and blood, a common method among conventional anglers, too.
It wasn’t long before Potter spotted a large mako approaching the boat.
“They’ve got to be about three feet from the boat to get the arrow to stick, so we threw a fish on the line and teased him to the boat,” Thomason recalled. “I try and shoot for the top of the back. As soon as the arrow hit, all hell broke loose.”
With the aid of Potter maneuvering the boat during the fight, the mako was reeled in and subdued in about 15 minutes. (Arrows are attached to a line, fixed to a big-game reel.)
“There was a certified weigh station in Los Angeles, so we had someone bring a boat trailer and we loaded him just like a boat,” Thomason said. “We threw a tarp over him because he was already attracting a crowd. It was pandemonium at the dock.”
The episode was recorded for an upcoming show, and Thomason said about 400 pounds of meat from the shark was donated to a shelter for the homeless in Los Angeles.
For the sake of comparison, the world record for a mako shark caught on rod and reel stands at 1,221 pounds. It was caught by Luke Sweeney in 2001 off Chatham, Massachusetts.

still waiting being able to do that to a seal

Like shooting a cow......... with big teeth............nothing difficult about it LAME!

Shit ... I thought the hammerhead incidence was scary! That thing is friggin HUGE!

You haven't seen Matt shoot a bow, have you?

Donating the meat makes it ok.:rolleyes:

Yes T see you rolling your eyes. Nothing makes it ok to take a breeding female, NOTHING! EVER!

Me too! 😁

X2.

Should be regulated like coyotes, no bag limit, open all year.

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Yep. Chumming a shark to the side of the boat and then shooting it should be prohibited. Dislike.

Exactly, they poisoned, trapped and killed the wolves, allowing the deer & elk to get over populated and die a slow death of starvation. We take out sharks, and the sea lions have less to worry about.

Like I said, open all year, no bag limit on sea lions! Need to test out my 30-06. Now that would be fun!

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So if we start overfishing the sharks then we'll get open season on the overpopulated sea lion population, great idea!

I may be wrong but, isn't bow fishing illegal in California? also, spearing of any game animal has to be done in the water.

pretty lame to shoot it. try shooting sheepshead off bride pilons. now that's skill and productive.

Edit: researched and Sharks on not on the allowed species list for bow fishing and you can spear fish/sharks from above the water...

Couldn't agree more!

Not saying it doesn't take skill to be extremely accurate with a compound bow, but this just seems like shooting fish in a barrel to me.

I would guess that after shooting it he had to go to rod and reel to fight the fish in. In reality (IMO) its almost as easy to get a mako in bow range as it is to get one to bite live bait on rod and reel (if you are targeting sharks), but at least if something happens with a hook set-up, worst the shark leaves with is a hook and some line. With the bow set-up, the shark leaves with a mortal wound and it wasted, which would be sad with such an amazing specimen.

Leave the bows where there is more skill involved (IMO), on land with deer and other animals that see/smell you coming.

lol not much skill needed to shoot with a compound it's almost as easy as using a crossbow especially at that distance and that big of a target. It's funny how wrong this is. If it's fishing, You are suppose to present something in hope your game be dumb enough to take it. This isn't fishing. If it's bow hunting, you are supose to get as close to the animal you are hunting without it being noticed. Bow hunting guys brags how close they got to the game before their shot. Land animals could smell and hear you coming so it present an actual challenge. This doesn't fit that bill either because it doesn't take any skills chumming the water. To me it's foul play on both sports so why are these guys bragging about it?

What a waste of a nice fish, I do not see the sport. I think using the donation excuse to justify killing it is also lame!

Like Andy said, like shooting a cow, or lets say a bull cause they are actually dangerous. I haven't shot an arrow in decades but I'm pretty sure I could hit a target as big as that mako form what, 6-10 feet away, from the complete safety of a yacht. While I'm sure this guy is very skilled with a bow, all he needed for this was the cash to charter a yacht, hire a skipper who knows where sharks are, and the time to sit around throwing blood in the water. Not seeing how this is any thing to be proud of. Mike