Back in 2009, I was invited to the stables of Churchill Downs a few days before the running of the Kentucky Derby. There I was able to meet the trainer of the racehorse Mind That Bird, and I noticed how he carried the same mindset as many tournament fishermen – a dream, hopefulness, and excitement for the event. He also truly believed that he could win!
Similarly, our hope, excitement, and dream of catching a big mako and winning the South Jersey Shark Tournament dominated our thought process that spring. Four of us had planned for a last-minute sign-up to ensure sea conditions would allow the 24′ Grady-White to make the trip offshore. This was my first big game tournament, and I tossed and turned at night with anticipation of winning, even as reality flashed through my mind that I had never caught a mako shark. We spent months planning, yet just before the big event, Joe and Tony bowed out. With marginal sea conditions, coupled with just the two of us to cover tournament fees, Larry Martino and I decided we would forgo the tournament and go mako fishing for fun.
Larry had procured numbers that offered great natural bottom structure. The night before, I studied satellite charts containing real-time observations and offshore imagery, noticing a temperature break of almost 2 degrees in very close proximity to Larry’s top-secret numbers. It all looked good on the chart, but can I find the temperature break? I pulled back on the throttles 2 miles short of Larry’s numbers to get a better look at the sea temperature and the bottom; about a mile out from the spot the depth started to drop and, sure enough, sea temperatures rose 1.5 degrees!
I positioned the boat directly over the edge, as Larry tossed the chum bag overboard, both of us soon rigging two rods with PENN 30 International reels spooled and 30-pound mono. We had fresh bluefish for bait caught the evening before, rigging them with extra sharp hooks dressed in chartreuse-colored skirts to drift back into our chum slick under floats, one at about 20 feet and the other at 12 feet. About 2 hours into our drift and still following the edge almost perfectly, Larry was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when I saw a large fin in our chum slick! After taking a couple of whacks at our hooked baits, there was a brief moment of silence. And then bang, he hits my bait. As fast as possible, I push the reel into full drag and set the hook hard. The big fish ran two-thirds of the line off that 30 International in under a minute before I felt the pressure drop. Reeling as fast as possible as that fish ran toward the boat, the big mako went airborne giving us our first look at a pretty big fish.
One hour and 45 minutes later, the mako came up boatside, getting one look at us before going ballistic. It would take another 30 minutes to get line back for another boatside look at the shark. I was exhausted at this point, asking Larry to grab my 357 from the sea bag. About 10 feet from the fish, he fired off a series of shots that failed to hit the mark. With the mako soon leaning against the boat, I shouted “Shoot,” but all I heard was a click; to my chagrin we were out ammo.
Larry adapted quickly, and was right on target with the flying gaff. The two of us were able to tail-rope the mako, but it was still very much alive. We decided to drag the mako backward behind the boat before attempting to pull it aboard, towing it for about 2 miles before trying to wrestle it aboard once again, only to surrender to the fact that it was physically impossible. We headed towards Cape May some 30 miles away, the mako in tow. About 10 miles out we were able to get an assist from the crew of the Ditch Digger, and were finally able to bring that massive shark onboard the Grady.
The crowd at the Lobster House restaurant cheered as we passed the dock with our big mako. Marina staff directed us to a spot to wait for the scale, hoping to be last to weigh-in. The first place mako on the leaderboard was 221 pounds, and once they hoisted ours, the crowd erupted in applause when the scale hit 279 pounds! And then came the pause, followed by the big announcement – this is not a tournament fish. The crew with the 221-pound mako was ecstatic! We did not win $100,000 prize money or walk off with a 6-foot trophy, but we did catch the largest mako on tournament day, the value of our fishing trip far exceeding any prize money.
Mind That Bird won that Kentucky Derby, one of only a few 50-1 horses in the 125-year history of the event. If you fall in love with your endeavor and are persistent, the odds will never get in the way of you living your daydream.
