A monster of a Bull

[docjun]

Very nice catch!

[Capt Ahab]

I harvested this shark for a trophy and to feed half the people that were on the pier that night, it was a legal catch.
I have taken only one out of the many sharks I have caught.
We had a guy down here get attacked and killed locally by a bull this size a few years back. Who knows, I may have also protected a very crowded Florida beach. Regardless, I now have fun doing some good for sharks by tagging them.
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Thanks for reporting the sandbar shark recapture # 359536. The shark was originally tagged January 2014 off Boca Grand Pass Florida. Eventually you will receive a full report on this recapture by regular mail, and a hat to thank you for returning the information.
I will have someone send you out a starter tag kit with three tags and a needle to make a tagging stick. Please only use these dart tags on sharks greater than 3 feet in length and robust enough to handle the tag. When you use these three tags up and send us the information, you can request more.
Pat Turner
Apex Predators Program
National Marine Fisheries Service
Narragansett Laboratory

I do not think anyone was attacking you personally- just a general comment on releasing those apex predators in general.

If it went for food - then by all means eat it!  Nothing wrong in eating a legal fish  - I love eating shark

Congrats on a great catch

[Shark Hunter]

Exactly,
Its your choice Rocky. I just choose not to. I don't hold it against you brother.
There is just something that really makes me feel good after fighting, landing and watching a Big Apex Predator swim back into the Deep. Its not a perfect world and sometimes things happen.
I really think Sharks are the most feared and misunderstood creatures on the planet.
Sure, they are dangerous and bite and kill people, but it is in their realm and a case of mistaken Identity.
You take that chance every time you step into the Ocean.

[mike1010]

I really think Sharks are the most feared and misunderstood creatures on the planet.
Sure, they are dangerous and bite and kill people, but it is in their realm and a case of mistaken Identity.

I agree, but am reminded of something:  Years ago on vacation I was snorkeling (Alone.  I know, I know) and a barracuda the size of my leg decided to follow me.  It was spooky, kind of like being followed by a Doberman you don't know, but that's really all that happened.  Later that day, I told one of the locals about it.  His reply was, "There are no documented cases of unprovoked attacks by barracudas on humans."  I thought, "Documented?  Unprovoked?  Sounds to me like the barracuda had a good lawyer."

[Dominick]

I really think Sharks are the most feared and misunderstood creatures on the planet.
Sure, they are dangerous and bite and kill people, but it is in their realm and a case of mistaken Identity.

I agree, but am reminded of something:  Years ago on vacation I was snorkeling (Alone.  I know, I know) and a barracuda the size of my leg decided to follow me.  It was spooky, kind of like being followed by a Doberman you don't know, but that's really all that happened.  Later that day, I told one of the locals about it.  His reply was, "There are no documented cases of unprovoked attacks by barracudas on humans."  I thought, "Documented?  Unprovoked?  Sounds to me like the barracuda had a good lawyer."

We lawyers are sometimes referred to as barracudas.    Dominick

[BMITCH]

I really think Sharks are the most feared and misunderstood creatures on the planet.
Sure, they are dangerous and bite and kill people, but it is in their realm and a case of mistaken Identity.

I agree, but am reminded of something:  Years ago on vacation I was snorkeling (Alone.  I know, I know) and a barracuda the size of my leg decided to follow me.  It was spooky, kind of like being followed by a Doberman you don't know, but that's really all that happened.  Later that day, I told one of the locals about it.  His reply was, "There are no documented cases of unprovoked attacks by barracudas on humans."  I thought, "Documented?  Unprovoked?  Sounds to me like the barracuda had a good lawyer."

We lawyers are sometimes referred to as barracudas.    Dominick

Or worse

[Wally15]

To a point I agree with the "catch and release" philosophy on sharks. But only to a point. Don't know about where you fish, but where I typically fish (Florida Panhandle near Panama City), the shark population is getting a little out of control. I bottom fish a lot, 15-25 miles offshore, and I seem to be catching 2-3x as many sharks as I did say 20 years ago. Not huge ones, I'm talking 3-4 footers. Plus they have a bad habit of eating my catch on the way up. As do barracuda, but there's a lot less of them. Sharks have no natural predators (except maybe man), and are at the very top of their food chain. I've never caught a tagged shark, and I've never kept one to eat, but I am sorely tempted to "thin the herd" when I start catching them in bunches. And I let a lot of keeper fish go just because I have enough meat in the freezer. The chase and the catch is the thrill for me. Plus the fresh air and sunshine.
I'm not aware of any studies of shark populations in the GoM, or any State or Fed efforts to control them, other than the posted catch limits by subspecies, which never seem to change.
Of course, I also seem to catch the heck out of Red Snapper, which apparently is an endangered species to the Feds.
Maybe this is a better topic for one of the Florida fishing forums.
Wally One Five

[Dominick]

We lawyers are sometimes referred to as barracudas.    Dominick
[/quote]

Or worse
[/quote]

Bobby...be careful when you start your car tomorrow morning.    Dominick

[Three se7ens]

Or worse

Bobby...be careful when you start your car tomorrow morning.   Dominick

italian first, lawyer second, right?

[Dominick]

he he he  you're next.  Dominick

[Shark Hunter]

Remember Casino?
I have to agree with Wally. The sharks are getting more populated. I really think this is a result of the Long Lining Ban in the Gulf. That was the only thing that kept their population down.

[Unutt]

Shark populations are not increasing.  We are fishing them out of the ocean.

Evolution has not prepared sharks for the onslaught of man. 

Ray fin fishes start reproducing after two or three years.  They lay thousands of eggs, and hatch thousands of fry at a time. 

Sharks on the other hand, are usually more than 10 years old before they start reproducing.  They have only 2 to 20 pups at a time.  Newborn pups must get away from the mother as quickly as possible to avoid being eaten.

If it seems you have too many small sharks, it might be because the larger sharks are fished out.

I have no issue at all with RockyR keeping one to feed a crowd, but killing them in general might not be the best plan.

Just my rant.  Too many years of college, I guess.