Imagine you are playing a big fish – only to lose it to a bigger fish. What German anglers may know from pike attacking hooked fish can also be made one size larger. John Skinner experienced this with a shark while fishing for tarpon in late April. The story is reminiscent of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea…
When Skinner hooked a five foot tarpon, a hard fight with the prey ensued. The tarpon jumps out of the water several times and tries to shake off the hook with violent headbutts. But the tarpon also makes long escapes. During one of the escapes, the shark strikes out of nowhere. A big gush is seen as the shark makes short work of the tarpon. Then the line becomes slack – the fight is over.
Shark bites the tarpon in half
The special thing about the experience: John Skinner sits in a kayak and is right in the middle of the action instead of watching the shark attack from the safe motorboat or from the shore.
After the attack, the kayak angler reels in the tarpon’s head, which is still hanging on the hook. Skinner places the tarpon’s remains, which are about three feet long, on his lap. So the shark had bitten the tarpon in half with one bite.
Bild: John Skinner (via YouTube)
The shark bit the tarpon in half with one sweep. For the angler, the drill was over…
The whole scene took place in water only 1.80 meters deep. But what species of shark would “dissect” a tarpon so quickly? Skinner bets a bull shark. And he could be right about that, because bull sharks, but also great hammerheads, are known to hunt tarpon and other fish in shallower water. The location also fits: The sea off Florida is a well-known home water for these shark species.
Those: Kayak Angler