Record-setting shark caught in Florida

DESTIN , Fla., Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A fisherman competing in Florida's annual Destin Fishing Rodeo set a record for the tournament by landing an 844.4-pound mako shark.

Adlee Bruner reeled in the gargantuan shark after he and his friends noticed something was eating the fish they hooked before they could reel them in, the Panama City (Fla.) News-Herald reported Monday.

Capt. Robert Hill of the 52-foot charter boat “Twilight” told the anglers to pull their rigs out of the water and it was then that the shark came out into the open.

“A huge shark,” Bruner told the News-Herald. “That was an incredible sight."

Bruner lured the shark to his rig with a 2-foot amberine as bait and the fight was on.

“He went crazy,” Bruner said of the shark. “It was a fight.”

After an hours-long battle, the fishermen roped the shark and towed it back to shore. The shark weighed in at 844.4 pounds and retained 638 pounds after it was gutted, a record for the tournament's shark division, the newspaper said.

“I’ve caught an 85-lb Warsaw (grouper) before,” Bruner said. “This is a totally different fish here.”