On the third day of wacking the Jacks on the fly – John, Ed and I got to witness an incredible animal.
When John was bringing a big Jack to the boat – it’s behavior was off and the fish shot to the surface early. While I tailed the unharmed fish – I quickly saw what was making it act uneasy…a huge tiger shark was following it.
We estimated the fish at about 12′ and probably over 400lbs. She circled the boat several times, keeping a careful distance….and then I remembered that I had a 12lb false albacore in my bait cooler. In one motion, I grabbed it, tied a dock line around it’s tail while Ed put several big slashes in it with his knife.
We dropped it over-board and the big shark was very cautious…she did slow figure 8s around the boat for about 10-15 minutes coming closer and closer to the albie before she finally (and very slowly) came up behind it, grabbed it and easily bit it in half. As the shark was biting it andI was holding the rope as the shark thrashed, John grabbed onto my belt, look at me and said “I dont know the way home!”
She came and finished off the albie on the next pass – biting it just a foot from the outboard.
What an incredible experience – I will remember this for the rest of my life.
