Fishing crew sets new N.J. record with 926-pound Mako shark catch

A fishing crew in New Jersey has reeled in a 926-pound Mako shark, and environmental officials say it’s the biggest shark catch in the state’s history.

The Jenny Lee Sportfishing crew, captained by Kevin Gerrity and Dave Bender, was fishing about 100 miles off the state coast in an area known as Hudson Canyoan on Saturday.

The 12-foot shark was weighed and displayed in Brielle later that day.

Gerrity says they didn’t think they could manage to catch the shark. It took more than two hours to pull it aboard.

“We set up at night for Mako sharks and swordfish, and at about 11, the shark rod goes screaming,” Bender posted on the charter boat’s Facebook page.  “After about an hour and a half of backing down we had the fish gaffed boatside. That was the easy part. It took another hour and six guys to get the one Mako through the tuna door.”

“Fish of a lifetime to say the least,” he added.

The New Jersey Division Fish and Wildlife says the previous record weight for a shark caught was an 880-pound tiger shark caught off Cape May in 1988.

The Hudson Canyon is populated by a number of large fish, and has produced multiple record setting fish catches.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.