A group of South Carolina business partners on Sunday teamed to land a tiger shark that weighed an estimated 1,500 pounds.
“If that wasn’t a great team-building exercise, I don’t know what is,” Capt. Chip Michalove told FTW Outdoors.
Michalove, owner of Outcast Sport Fishing in Hilton Head, did not provide the anglers’ names but said they fought the shark for 90 minutes before it was alongside the boat. (The shark was released after a brief photo session.)
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“Largest one we’ve caught in years, a 13-footer,” Michalove boasted Monday via Facebook.
Any tiger shark topping 1,000 pounds is considered to be enormous.
For comparison, the International Game Fish Assn. lists the world record as a tie between a catches of 1,785 pounds, 11 ounces (Australia, 2004) and 1,780 pounds (South Carolina, 1964).
(The 1964 catch was made from a Myrtle Beach pier!)
Michalove, who in July 2022 caught and released a record-size hammerhead shark, explained that giant tiger sharks tend to be active off South Carolina in the fall.
“It seems like every year the largest tiger is always the last two weeks of October,” he said. “Last year we lost an enormous one on Halloween.”
Michalove, who is authorized to tags sharks for research, said he has caught several of the same large tiger sharks over the years.
But the shark his group caught Sunday did not have a tag and did not show markings that would imply it had previously been tagged.
Asked about how the anglers handled the fight, Michalove explained:
“The fight was an hour and a half. It took all four customers multiple rod swaps to get her close. One of the guys was a pastor, and that always seems beneficial.”