New World Record Bonnethead Shark caught in Florida

Helmut Nickel, Shark Year Magazine,
10. October 2012

Date of catch: 28. June 2012

Location: Intracoastal Waterway, Daytona Beach, Florida, USA

Species: Bonnethead shark ( Sphyrna tiburo )

Weight: 12.7 kg (28 lb 0 oz)

The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) has recently certified a new world-record bonnethead shark.

The shark weighed 28 pounds and was caught by 13-years old Carter Wells.
He was fishing with Capt. Chris Scaccia in the Halifax River, located in northeast Volusia County, Florida.

This catch exceeds the former record by 2 pounds.
It covers the record-categories of All-Tackle, Male-Junior and Mens’ 30-pound test line class.

Photo Credit:  Chris Scaccia.
Source: IGFA and The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

 

18 Comments

  1. TCC

    Do u think that u r a hero to kill a small shark for fun & “record breaking”??! 

  2. I agree with TCC .. As a matter of fact a story is brewing at my computer now about this very place .. Daytona Beach … where I have seen at least 3 babies gasping for life at the pier.   I was there two weeks ago and if Florida is TRYING to protect this species, the cops who ride around on two wheeler scooters, up and down the Daytona Beach pier,  had no comment about the 3 dying baby sharks!!!  Fisherman have gone wild .. stabbing dolphins (because they interfere with shark fishing), killing whales and the list goes outside our oceans too .. Humans will soon be the only creature-idiots left on the planet if we don’t get the REAL police out there .. I’m disgusted.  Soon enough my blog will cover this nonsense and I’ll have the links to websites who WILL do something about killing off our wild life .. yup, I’ve finally had it ..  I’ve got the pics to prove it too

    • PeopleEatingTastyAnimals

      You people do realize that these “baby” sharks are full grown at this size? They also have one of the highest population growth rates for sharks.  Also the “real police” are out there. The FWC does their job very thoroughly, maybe if you did any fishing for yourself you would be aware of this. If this species were threatened they would place a minimum size limit on them and or make them illegal to harvest all together. So next time before you go accuse people of killing the planet, do a little research. If you can’t do that then shove a veggie burger in your mouth so we don’t have to hear you cry.
      Sincerely,
      Mark

      • Angel

        Hi People Eating Tasty Animals.

        I understand your point of view. But your assumption of anyone who tries to protect the nature are veggie eaters is wrong. By the way. just a suggestion, veggie burgers are tasty as well. Don;t be close minded about it.
        I also understand the other side of the coin. So much nature and ocean destruction is going on and everyone with a little nature protection value in their heart is having hard time understanding “kill for fun” idea. The idea to pay for a boat to take you out to a kill zone.
        Time will show which side is correct. I hope you are right, there is nothing to worry about and in reality there is nothing wrong with sharks declining all over and oceans are fine.
        By the way, the pay to take me out to kill zone in 2011 officially fished over 2,7 million sharks only in US waters. (only the recreational fishing excluding the private boat owners unreported ones) (   http://sharkyear.com/2013/2-7-million-sharks-caught-by-u-s-recreational-fishermen-in-2011.html ) So one shark or more at a time totals to millions of sharks a year for fun. Just FYI. As you said, there is nothing to worry about.

      • Eric

        I see no reason for people who are “record hunting”. I completely understand killing a shark should be no different than killing a tasty snapper which I eat all the time. However, when people kill a shark, a small portion of them do it for the meat. Most people do it simply to catch a big fish with sharp teeth. If you want to prove you’re tough you should go swimming with a knife and see how far you get. Killing just to get a record is ignorant. Swimming with a shark of that size even from a cage is much more exciting than reeling one to shore and killing it.

        • Jeremy

          Hey, Ive been fishing since i was 2 and i dont see why ur complaining about why people kill fish the important part is that they keep the meat, eat it, and dont wast!!! other than that im an angler not a fisherman and i care about the fish the only fish i kill is my bait and i let go the leftover bait after im done so they can live another day and let go all the larger fish i catch without hurting them. I bet u dont even fish u just see a picture of a dead fish on the internet and “feel sorry for it” and bitch about it. You people dont get it so stop worrying and bitching about every dead fish you see a picture of.

    • Kevin

      LOL You people are hilarious….I doubt you have pictures of a damn thing and IF you do it’s most likely “LEGAL” fishing so stop trying to cause trouble where there is none. By the way these sharks only get to about 3-4 feet long so I doubt what you saw was a baby.
      You Karens are amazing.

  3. john sortman

    I see that FEW if any of the comments were from Florida fishermen, or women…. On my boat yesterday 9 May 13, we landed over 30 sharks ffrom Tampa Bay.. Kept 0… All released alive, however I do believe we had a bonnetthead hooked, and to the boat that would have broke that record, but it got wrapped around the anchor line and broke off. It was the biggest one I ever saw. THATS why I checked on here to see what the record was/is and it make me feel sick somewhat now that it got away.. Oh well theres next week…… Here’s MY thought on the shark population, in our area. It’s doing very well as TB is the breeding grounds for many types of sharks. Another thing the FWC does a great job of “policing” our waters. Also there is a limit “1” shark per person or max. of 2 per vessel, whichever is lower….Don’t get caught over the limit, the fines are HIGH!!!

    And you will get caught……….

  4. Zech

    That is the world record? I’ve caught four bigger than that (from sight) in the last three days. I didn’t weigh them, didn’t consider them to be “large” enough for that. Interesting. Good job on the catch.

  5. Dale

    I’m from Missouri & I got hooked on Shark fishing in 2012, I’ve caught several but I eat them & they are very tasty grilled. I’ve releasted a female Bonnethead that had babies inside her, we could se her belly moving so we releasted her so she could have her babies.

  6. Alan Kershaw

    Idiots being alarmed by this one fish

  7. Kyle

    Me n my dad caught one down in pcb in Saint Andrews it was abt 5 feet long but we never gout a weight on it I think it might’ve been close to this tho 

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