r/Fishing • u/11BigDaddyChris11 • Jul 01 '23

Saltwater Reported, documented, released immediately, etc. estimated 11ft length based off of distance between dock pylons. I know this is very rare but how rare exactly is it and any estimations on weight?

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u/Affectionate_Elk_272 Florida Jul 01 '23

i’d say incredibly rare!

if she was indeed 11 feet you’re probably looking at… shit 400-600 pounds or so.

if i may ask where you found her? i’m doing shark research for my degree (i know these are in the ray family) but i’d love to have some more info on them!

219

u/11BigDaddyChris11 Jul 01 '23

That 11ft Included the saw btw, not sure if it’s supposed to. That would be crazy, I helped my 16 year old cousin reel it in and she’s about 100lbs lol. Took a good 45 minutes mostly with it sitting on the bottom like a grouper and only the occasional small run. Caught in Marco island Florida. Generally catch shark, tarpon, grouper, snook, snapper etc off the dock with occasional rays but this was definitely a first

73

u/Affectionate_Elk_272 Florida Jul 01 '23

usually the saw is about 1/3 ish the size of the fish itself but yeah it’s all often measured as one. that’s a great find, though! i’m glad you got it back out safely. they’re so, so rare. i’ll have to look but i think florida is one of the last places that they actually exist in the atlantic.

i’m in south florida, what kind of sharks are you normally seeing up there this time of year?

side note- you did the best possible thing reporting it and such. there’s huge fines associated with having them. thank you for handling it with care!

54

u/11BigDaddyChris11 Jul 01 '23

We catch a lot of lemon sharks, probably like 50% of our sharks are lemons. The rest are a mixture of blacktip bull and nurse sharks.

25

u/Affectionate_Elk_272 Florida Jul 01 '23

awesome. it’s been so warm down here a lot of our sharks have gone to deeper waters. i’m heading out in the morning, hoping to get something fun

17

u/11BigDaddyChris11 Jul 01 '23

Good luck mate, looking for anything in particular?

24

u/Affectionate_Elk_272 Florida Jul 01 '23

thanks! i always hope for snapper, but lately it’s been mostly blue runner and sea bream.

i got a handful of yellowtail last week, but they’re all still a little too small.

and without fail, every single fucking time, i end up with at least one puffer. it never fails.

8

u/Bobmanbob1 Jul 02 '23

Hey next time you hit some Bull Sharks, csn you post pics?

16

u/11BigDaddyChris11 Jul 02 '23

For sure, only down here a few weeks each year but definitely will.

2

u/dickmcgirkin Jul 03 '23

You know what they say. When life gives you lemons, throw it back in the ocean?