Fishermen hunt huge prey from tiny boats
Picture this: There's a 50-pound sit-on-top kayak, a 170-pound man and about 15 pounds of fishing tackle and gear. That's 235 pounds of bait. Right below, churning the water on a frantic quest for pink salmon, are salmon sharks, a relative of the mako shark that can weigh upwards of 500 pounds.
These sharks are plentiful in Southcentral Alaska waters, especially near Hinchinbrook Island, where the insane idea of catching a fish bigger than the fishing boat became reality for a small group of men on July 23.
In what would become a chaotic frenzy, Christopher Mautino, Howard McKim, Allen Bushnell and Allen Sansano each hooked a salmon shark within minutes of each other. They spent the next 90 minutes "sleighing" through the water as the sharks took them on a ride, or muscling them to the top when the sharks dove deep.
As far as the men know, it was the first time such a large fish has been caught from a kayak.
Link & Image: Anchorage Daily News
Tags: Kayak | Fishermen | Fishing | Salmon | Fish
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