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Watch: Family accidentally hooks mako shark

Author
Vita Molyneux,
Publish Date
Sat, 6 Jan 2024, 1:24pm

Watch: Family accidentally hooks mako shark

Author
Vita Molyneux,
Publish Date
Sat, 6 Jan 2024, 1:24pm

A family fishing trip turned into one of 鈥渢he coolest days on the water鈥 for Katie Sheehan when instead of nabbing a marlin, her father accidentally caught a mako shark.

Sheehan was out on the water with her father Chris and brother-in-law Calvin on Thursday looking to catch some tuna or marlin. The group were out past the Manukau Bar, in a 100m depth when Chris鈥 line started to drag rapidly out from the boat.

Thinking this was it, the group readied themselves for a marlin - but to their surprise, out of the water leapt a mako shark - over and over again. The shark was pirouetting on the line trying to free itself - something that Sheehan told the听Herald听is typical for them.

鈥淗ooking a mako is not uncommon, and to be honest they鈥檙e f***ing nightmares because they flip and spin and do all sorts of crazy things 鈥 but you need to remember, we鈥檙e the ones disrupting them! We鈥檙e in their area, we鈥檙e in their home,鈥 she said.

鈥淚f you thought you had your dinner ready and then it had a big hook in it, you鈥檇 probably get angry too.鈥

Mako sharks live near the surface of the ocean and in coastal waters, and are found around the coast of New Zealand, more commonly in the North Island.

They are known for jumping clear of the water when hooked, sometimes as much as 10m - and have been reported to land in boats.

Sheehan said the group was worried the shark would land in their boat.

Katie Sheehan's father and brother-in-law aboard the boat.Katie Sheehan's father and brother-in-law aboard the boat.

鈥淭here was a story of a guy in Whangamat膩, I think it was last season a mako actually jumped on his boat. It was the exact same thing, he was live baiting like us and the shark jumped in and completely destroyed his boat so that story flashed through my mind and we鈥檙e all like 鈥榟oly sh*t!鈥.鈥

Luckily for them, and for the shark, everything ended without incident.

鈥淗e was doing what he was supposed to be doing and it all worked out perfectly. We got our line back, and he came away with a fish in his throat.鈥

She told the听Herald听in her years of fishing, this was up there with the best experiences she had ever had.

鈥淚鈥檓 30 years old now, I鈥檝e been fishing since I was 10 and this is one of the coolest things I鈥檝e ever seen on the water.鈥

Although they didn鈥檛 catch any tuna or marlin, Sheehan said there were plenty of other things to keep them busy.

鈥淲e saw seals and sunfish and that guy of course - there were killer whales further out from us too, so it was an awesome day out on the water.鈥

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