Catches of Note

July 1, 2006
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Hammer Time

HAMMERED: Tom Rowland estimated this hammerhead to weigh 1,000 pounds.

While filming an episode of "the Salt Water Experience" off Florida's Long Key last year, hosts Rich Tudor and Tom Rowland could only watch as a hammerhead shark shredded the tarpon on the end of their line. So when the two returned to the spot in April to film another episode, they had hammerhead hunting in mind. Rigging with 130-pound braid and 19-pound wire, Tudor used standup gear and a filleted barracuda to catch the first shark, a 400-pounder. But near the end of Tudor's fight, Rowland made it a double(hammer)header when he set the hook on a 15-foot-long fish, estimated at 1,000 pounds. Rowland fought his shark for more than an hour, during which they spotted two more huge hammerheads-one of which approached the boat and snagged the 'cuda carcass hanging off the stern. Tudor said the shark frenzy left him a little paranoid...after all, he has swum in these waters more than once. Still, he and Rowland didn't mind sending the photographer overboard for some underwater shots. "It took a bit of convincing," Tudor said. "But that's why we pay him the big bucks."

Flyfishing's Fattest Feat

JUICED UP: Marty Arostegui, right, landed this 385-pound lemon shark. Photo: Courtesy of Marty Arostegui

Marty Arostegui of Coral Gables, Florida, caught the biggest fish ever on the fly, according to the IGFA. Fishing with Captain Ralph Delph near the Marquesas, Arostegui caught and released a 385-pound lemon shark on 16-pound tippet. "We saw the fish three blocks away," Arostegui said. "I've never seen such a big mouth."

"Weak" Fight from a Huge Fish

WHAT A WEAK: Patrick Long released his 15.5-pound weakfish.

When the fish didn't fight much at first, angler Patrick Long and Captain John McMurray figured it was a schoolie striper; turns out it was a 15.5-pound weakfish. The fish, caught with a Deceiver fly on 20-pound tippet in Jamaica Bay, near New York City, would have thumped the current world record by more than four pounds.

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