“But it really doesn’t take much of a shot to hit a mako.

“These guys who take these bow-hunting mako trips usually are good shots,” Bowman said. “These fish are managed extremely well, and if there were any problems with us keeping fish like this, I’m sure the (Fish and Wildlife) would create a regulation to protect and manage them.”īowman said the bow-and-arrow technique doesn’t require much skill. “We don’t keep a lot of the fish we catch,” said Potter, who has been guiding for seven years. He said he catches and released fish in 900-pound range. His wife, Kristin, caught a 38-pound mako that was an IGFA line-class, world record on 4-pound test until it was broken. Potter said he sees both sides of the argument. He said Johnston used a Mustad 14/0 Marlin hook. Potter said Johnston used a reel spooled with 130-pound Spectra backing, topped with 130-pound monofilament and a wire leader to deal with the toothy mako’s mouth. Potter has guided bow-hunting clients to makos before, but he said today that Johnston caught the monster mako on rod and reel.

But I’ve never been a believer in killing apex predators, especially when they’re full of pups.”īowman also is not a fan of bow-hunting for makos. So we could have kept six a day if we wanted to. I had two anglers on the boat, and the state limit is two a day, per angler. “Our biggest was estimated at 300 pounds. “In two days last year we caught and released 27 mako sharks,” Bowman said. Bowman said he’s not a rabid environmentalist or protectionist, but he believes in protecting a unique resource like the mako population off Southern California. Great white sharks, for instance, are protected in California waters and most waters in the world. The catch already has been attacked by shark protection groups who see all sharks as being overfished. Makos can give birth to eight to 10 and as many as 18 pups once every 18 months or so. The older females go to the same areas off Southern California each year to give birth.

Southern California serves as a nursery for young makos. He said the females – and most makos over 500 pounds are female - are full of pups right now and weigh the heaviest of the year. “But the other question is should we be taking these big sharks as much as we are right now?”īowman said it’s not difficult at all to chum mako sharks to the boat this time of year. “If it was caught in the right manner, and the fisherman did all the right things, then yes, it should be considered for a record,” said Bowman, who hosts two fishing shows – “Fly Fishing the World” and “Outfitters by Ford Trucks” on the Sportsman Channel.

The shark book steve jenkins