Christian Haltermann made a bucket of the bucket list last weekend. He was fishing with his 8-year-old son Hub on a beach on the national coast of Padre Island near Corpus Christi, Texas. The pair arrived on Friday afternoon to camp on the beach for the weekend. Haltermann pulled a 10-pound bait kayak from the bay about 1,000 feet off the coast.
On Friday night, one of the rods was hit hard, but Haltermann lost the fish. They redistributed the bait and soaked it all day on Saturday, May 14th. One of the rods struck again around 7:00 pm that night — and Haltermann quickly realized he had a large shark at the bottom of the line.
“It was more or less like a freight train,” says Haltermann F&S. “He took the bait and threw about 400 meters in a row in the initial run. He almost dropped us on the coil, but I could stop him. “
Haltermann won a few lines before the shark took a fiery run. They went back and forth for about two hours before Haltermann managed to bring the beast to the shallows. He was using a Penn International 80 coil with a 130 pound braid. With the shark near the shore. Haltermann sent his son Hub down the beach to find a couple of other beachgoers who helped hold the rod while Haltermann picked up a tail rope over the fish. They held the big shark as they removed the hook and measured the fish. He came to a great height 12 feet, 5 inches.
“This was by far the largest shark I have ever caught,” he says. “I landed a couple over 10 feet and some other beautiful tigers in the 9 foot radius, but this one was the biggest. Its large mass exploded on me. It was surprising. Photos do not do her justice. It was easily 1000 1,000. ”
Haltermann is a volunteer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He tagged the shark before releasing it. Haltermann says the release was successful and the shark swam hard.
Haltermann was not the only one enthusiastic about big fish. His son Hub, himself an experienced shark, who over the weekend dived into some delightful black-toothed sharks in the 4-foot range alone over the weekend, was also impressed by the size of the tiger shark. “The hub was blown up,” says Haltermann. “He said it looked like a tiger shark and a megalodon had a baby. Those were his exact words. ”
Haltermann and Hub often spend weekends camping together on the beach in search of mega-large sharks. Reaching the beach of a 12-foot tiger shark removed from their list of goals, Haltermann says they are turning their sights to break 12 feet with a hammer-headed shark.
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“I like shark fishing because of the lure of facing a monster,” he says. “A shark is the biggest thing you can aim for from the shore. “I’ve been doing this since I was 8 with my dad and I grew up fishing in the same beach area where I caught the tiger shark.”