Nearly 1,000-Pound Shark Caught In New Jersey To Possibly Break Record

A New Jersey fishing crew caught a 926-pound mako shark Saturday about 100 miles off the New Jersey Coast, possibly the largest shark caught in New Jersey history, reported NJ.com Saturday.

The Jenny Lee fishing boat crew set out on Friday for an overnight fishing trip, according to a Facebook post. They were fishing in Hudson Canyon, an area 100 miles off the east coast of New Jersey. They spent 90 minutes catching the shark. Some members of the crew almost went overboard during the process.

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“It’s a pretty awesome feeling. We saw him swimming up to the boat. We didn’t think we were going to get him, but we got him,” Kevin Gerrity, captain of the Jenny Lee, said to NJ.com. “We were able to get him with a skipjack fillet with a squid combo as his last meal.”

A collective effort among Captain Dave Bender, Captain Kevin Gerrity, Matt Lockett, Nick Rondinella, Bill Miccio, Steve Miccio, Mark Miccio and Matt Miccio resulted in catching the shark after the nearly two-hour struggle.

“We trolled all afternoon and landed a 35 lb yellowfin and three throwbacks. We sent up at night for mako’s and swords and at about [11:00 p.m.] the shark rod goes screaming,” said a Facebook post made by Jenny Lee Sportfishing. “After about an hour and a half of backing down we had the fish gaffed boatside. That was the easy part, it took another hour and six guys to get the 12’ 926 pound mako through the tuna door, fish of a lifetime to say the least.”

The largest shark caught in New Jersey waters was an 880-pound tiger shark off the coast of Cape May in 1988, according to the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife. Hudson Canyon is filled with tuna, marlins and mako sharks. In 1986, fishermen caught a 1,046-pound blue marlin in Hudson Canyon.

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“In closing, I want to say that my friend and co captain Kevin Gerrity deserves 100 percent of the credit. He has waited 35 years for today’s moment,” wrote Captain Dave Bender on the Jenny Lee Sportfishing Facebook page. “Every night offshore for the last ten years, he puts out a shark rod, and every night I tell the customers, ‘We ain’t gonna catch no mako.’ Kevin’s passion and persistence has paid off today. I salute you cap you deserve this fish!”

Mako sharks were declared endangered due to human fishing and hunting. Fishermen sometimes also cut the fins off mako sharks while they are still alive and return them to the ocean for a slow death.