Angler Uses Bow and Arrow to Catch Record-Setting, 809-Pound Mako Shark

Angler Jeff Thomason has been hoping to catch a mako shark, but even he had to be surprised by the size of the shark he nabbed recently.

According to the Lone Star Outdoors News' Conor Harrison, Thomason—the host of the hunting show Predator Pursuit—caught a massive mako shark off Huntington Beach, California. It measured in at 11 feet long and 809.5 pounds, which makes it 300 pounds heavier than the previous world record.

The crew started the adventure by putting a trail of chum in the water for two miles. After about a 30-minute wait, the shark appeared.

The way Thomason caught the shark is a bit unusual compared to the way most big fish are caught:

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We shoot regular AMS bow arrows, but they have an interlock grapple with a steel leader. You need the sharks really close to the boat and out of the water because those arrows are so heavy, they don't fly far. ...

... They've got to be about three feet from the boat to get the arrow to stick, so we threw a fish on a line and teased him to the boat. I try and shoot for the top of the back. As soon as the arrow hit, all hell broke loose. We freaked out because I spined him and we thought he might sink.

"

Having a shark of any size circling a boat has to make for some nerve-racking moments, but with one this large, there had to be some anxious people on board.

As you could imagine, getting the shark out of the water was no easy task. The crew landed the shark in 15 minutes. Five people were on the boat, and it took every last one of them—and another 15 minutes—to haul in the shark with the pulley system.

With such a massive shark, some good was able to be done—about 400 pounds of the shark meat was donated to Los Angeles homeless shelters.

[h/t Bro Bible; Note: Language NSFW]