I would like to share a very exciting fishing trip with you. It all started in February when three friends and myself went to Montauk to go cod fishing. During the trip we talked about our last entry in the Bayshore Mako & Shark Tournament and were already making plans to enter and fish this coming tournament in June. Another buddy was told about the coming trip and wanted in. We kept in touch during the next months. The week before I monitored satellite seawater temperatures, prepared our terminal tackle and entered the contest. I went to the Captain’s meeting with one of the crew, Terry Nicholellis, and our wives and children. As the door prizes were given out, it seemed every number was called but ours, we looked at the trophies and I thought to myself I want one of them. The girls left and Terry and I went to the boat and began re-spooling some 50 TWS making wire leaders, then went to sleep. We were up at 4-am, checked with the committee weather boat and they gave a go.

We waited for the rest of our crew George Vaultier, Jack Rothe, and Thomas Murphy. I got on the cell phone and called George and asked where he was and he said, “walking down the dock”. I fired the engines and we set out to our spot, south west of the Virginia.

We were cruising at seventeen knots, about seven nautical miles off there was a fog bank. We maintained our heading and sounded our fog signals, for another ten or twelve miles. Then the fog lifted. Which was a relief, crossing the shipping lanes in a fog is always dicey without radar. About four miles from our fishing spot I ordered the crew to load the Slickmaster chum bucket and start rigging the baits. At our spot we put the Slickmaster in the water and I motored into the wind for another mile then stopped. My theory was to drift back through our started slick.

Thomas immediately started cutting herring & bunker into chunks and tossing them over the side. Jack was put on rigging detail, George was assisting me setting the baits out and tiding up our cockpit. Terry was trying to shake off a migraine from not eating or sleeping well. Terry pulled his weight the night before re-spooling the reels and helping load the boat and picking up last minute gear.

We set our first bait, a whole bluefish, about ninety-feet down, put the buoy on and set it two hundred yards into the slick. Then the second, another whole bluefish set at seventy-five feet down and one hundred and seventy five feet from the boat. Then a Mackerel with a purple skirt, then Jack rigged a trolling squid, which was left close to the boat.

Several fish jumped in the slick. George grabbed his bluefish pole and hooked a nine-pound bluefish. We boated it, Thomas put a light line in and I told them no dead sticking the bluefish poles, we have lost sharks in the past by a dead sticking blue pole. The second farthest shark pole made a short jerk and then stopped. We left it alone hoping whatever hit it would come back and finish it off. But nothing. George hooked another bluefish adding to our love for catching fish whatever it is. At about ten am the farthest shark pole gave a scream and stopped. I grabbed the pole from the holder and started stripping the line from the reel and told George to feed it over the side. Quickly stripping off the fresh eighty-pound mono letting the fish run.

I set the reel to strike, reeled in as much slack and set the hook with three heavy tugs. Then the reel started to sing. I called to Terry to get up here, handed the pole off to Jack as Terry came up with a belt and I started the engines. I backed down on the fish as it ran. While telling George to pull the Slickmaster chum bucket in. The boys were getting the belt on one of them as the other held on. The fished stopped on the first run I ran below came back with another belt. Tossed it to Thomas and told him put it on. Then went back to keeping the fish to our stern. Thomas put the belt on and Jack gave him the pole, Terry helped hand off the pole. The fish never showed itself, it was noon now and we never saw it, Jack screams he can’t take three barrels and we all laughed. Terry set the flying gaff up in an easily accessibly spot. Running in forward switching from forward to reverse spinning around, I began to wonder about fuel deciding to put more pressure on the fish I headed north leading the fish where we wanted.

As she followed along the line angle would indicate the fish was coming up from the deep and I told the rod man I’m coming out of gear and want you to get some line back. This worked well until the fish saw the boat and headed to depths. I put the boat in gear and kept heading north, again the line angle came up, we gained our line at 12:45 and we finally saw it, a huge thresher, at least fourteen feet from end to end. She came along side then went under the boat. I put the starboard motor in neutral and punched the port motor and spun her from under the boat. The fish made a dash and I instructed Terry to loosen the drag and let her run. He responded instantly. The fish was tired but very large. We couldn’t afford any mistakes, not now. We worked the fish back for a second gaff attempt, Terry & Thomas gaffed the fish. The fish started to swing her huge tail. Then I grabbed the wire tail rope and gently slipped it around the tail while Terry, George, Jack, and Thomas held the leader, the gaff rope and the rod.

Terry used a small gaff to lift her tail for the rope. Finally we had her tail roped, then I hollered “we’re heading in Brody”, we all laughed again, hi fives flew and we towed the large fish for about an hour. But she was spinning so we stopped put another rope on her and tried to lift her in the boat. We lifted, the tail came to her rear pecks and she made us decide to tow her a lot longer thrashing her tail so we scoped the tail ropes and headed in at eight knots. We were very happy about a perfect trip. We were about five miles from the beach and we made a final attempt to bring her in we pulled and heaved got her huge body over the stern pulling on her tail, fins, and the rope, finally she fell in the cockpit. Jack tied off her tail I jumped on the bridge and brought the boat to a plane.

The fish gave her death shake and destroyed a cooler. We made the Bayshore marina dock at 3:40PM fueled up and were the third boat for the weigh in. Seven people pulled the shark from the cockpit, to the weigh board and dollied it to the scale. When she went up she weighed 378 lbs. We were there. We still had till 6:30 for the win. A lot of fish were weighed but none over three hundred. At 6:30 a boat pulled in with a large thresher just making the weigh in when it went to the scales it went to 377 lbs. The captain asked for another weigh, still, not heavier, Once more 377 it was. We won the tournament by 1lb. We jumped and said yes victory.

I would like to thank my crew for such expertise in the handling of this fish. When you catch a large fish on standup gear it is a total team effort. All though we didn’t enter the Calcutta we won the trophy and the first place prize money in the other shark category and had the perfect shark trip.

Captain Vito Randazzo
Fishkatcher Industries fishing team & Dolphin II Charters

Captain Vito Randazzo