Posted on 09/25/2007 8:17:54 PM PDT by HonkyTonkMan
LAGLER BEACH, Fla. -- A man standing on a Central Florida beach reeled in a 12-foot, 5-inch, 550-pound great hammerhead shark, likely the biggest catches ever made in the area.
"I'm still in shock at the size of this fish," angler Dan Ficochello said. "I'll never catch one bigger than that. That's a catch of a lifetime."
Ficochello said he went about 300 yards offshore in his kayak and dropped a baracuda head to the bottom of the ocean floor as bait. He then dragged his line back to the beach and waited for a bite.
Soon, the shark took the line.
Ficocello said the shark put up a ferocious fight, taking the men three hours to bring him to the beach.
"My first thought was, 'What am I going to do with this?' Because it wasn't moving, there was no chance of a release. It was done. I had never seen a shark this big before in person," Ficochello said. "It was a non-stop tug-a-war. I was worn out after an hour."
Others said they were shocked such a big shark was swimming off shore.
"You're swimming and having a good time and something like that could be just a few feet from you," angler Michael Ficocello said. "It makes you think twice. It's their home. You are intruding on their area."
Thanks!
I'm embarrassed. I grew up in the midwest. Oh well, I never was a serious fisherman.
Extreme sport is right!
We threw out a big shark hook on a private sports fishing boat ( a veterinarian friend of my father's owned the boat) for my (very) little sister going out of Hillsboro Inlet one day after seeing a huge shark in the area.
We caught sailfish, dolphin a good haul of large fish - Then on the way back in felt a big tug on the boat that made it shudder.
At the dock we pulled in the line and found the big hook was straightened out like it was a soft paper clip.
My little sister's big shark was a huge hammerhead....
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And then there were none....
[My little sister’s big shark was a huge hammerhead.... ]
Wow, thankfully she wasn’t holding on and pulled overboard!!
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It was a stout line fastened to a cleat on the boat
My brother, father, our vet, and I used the outriggers on the way out
Few people in NYC believed my sister as she told some of out adventures
Putting a big truck tire tube over a piling on the Inlet with an old towel wrapped around the tube - then a heavy strong parachute cord, a steel shark chain, a forged steel hook, a bloody chicken
That tube stetched out over 15’ when the shark we hooked was at the end of his run
Then the shark started going side to side ramming the reinforced concrete seawall
We brought the liver home and our cat stood on top of it
Antone telling you we are running out of sharks and gators is blowing cider in your ear &/or is an ignorant fool
These monsters are millions of years old and we are but a tiny dot on a calendar
OK Bud -
I finally wrote a few of our stories!
Good stories devolve! No way are we we are running out of sharks and gators. They kill people and pets all the time.
They sell alligator boots in Mexico but we are not allowed to bring them into the U.S.!!
No kidding, especially if it was rigged to snap shut on the wrong hands!
Come to think of it, it might also make a very cool hood ornament on a nice fat Chrysler Cordoba, maybe with a sheetmetal saw-tooth tailfin along the roofline --
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Legal gator farms in Florida
Other states too
I’m too rough on them to get those exotic boots
I recall a gator farm long ago in Florida that had two huge pits
One with a croc
One with a gator
My eyes were smaller then so they were bigger
But they were enormous
I think it's supposed to be Flagler Beach.
Interesting thing is that New Smyrna Beach is just down the road aways. If I remember correctly, New Smyrna is the shark bite capital of Florida.
didn’t know that about New Smyrna Beach. I’ve never been there, but my husband was born there. He was the second baby born in “Fish Hospital”!
[Im too rough on them to get those exotic boots]
Yes, they are purely for ‘show’ and can be damaged easily.
I saw alligator farms on vacations, the kids enjoyed it, lol.
You mean ‘your body was smaller’. From what I’ve read your eyes are the same size when a baby as when you are an adult. That’s why babies have that darling look with the big eyes!!
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Yup
Up around Hendersonville
And big catfish
Try the Pisgah Fishcamp at the Pisgah Forest entry
And bowhunting for wild turkey is big there
I’m spooky with a rifle or carbine at night - but those bowhunters are unreal
When fishing season opens there you better be out there
The pros know where and when the best will be
I like your fishing story, PF, but I thought sail-cats were only found in places like freeway shoulders.
So, you've met my grandsons.
I think the Sheriff put a end to this.
http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/
Muskie are not shark, are they devolve? I looked it up earlier and wrote about what they eat, etc...
Absolutely! You could also make molds of it so you'd have plenty of green-and-red life-size plastic replicas to spread around for Christmas. Maybe with light ornament eyes. Very festive touch for the Holidays! And who knows? You might even get your design into Southern Living or Architectural Digest. Then you'd be famous!
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No - not sharks
Northern fish
NC lost lots of trees up on Mount Mitchell and elsewhere and some fish have been difficult to keep stocked
I recall seeing large albino fish up at the hatchieries - the Rangers said birds would nail them fast and first
Unfortunately in NC as other states there are those pros who cheat during fishing season opening and “limits” and are probably the same jerks out using lights on the deer at night
Those deer often end up as dogfood for those who travel NC-SC to steal and sell fine hunting hounds
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