Texas angler hooks 11-foot tiger shark: 'It was the catch of a lifetime'

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Published May 23, 2018

Hernandez poses with the 11-foot tiger shark. (Bacilio Hernandez)

A shark angler in Texas recently experienced the “catch of a lifetime” after reeling in a 11-foot tiger shark off the coast of Padre Island National Shore.

Bacilio Hernandez of Corpus Christi caught, tagged and released the 11-foot tiger shark last week. The catch marked his biggest to-date.

“It was a pretty awesome experience -- and I’ve got quite a few [sharks] under my belt,” Hernandez told Fox News on Wednesday.

Hernandez said the shark was 5 feet around. (Bacilio Hernandez)

Hernandez waited roughly an hour before the shark “picked up the bait and took off.” It took him another 45 minutes before he was able to wrangle the shark to shore.

It wasn’t until he was thigh-deep in water, though, that he realized the shark was bigger than expected.

“I almost got pulled in head-first,” he said.

Hernandez said he has shark fished for 3 years. (Bacilio Hernandez)

Once the shark was situated more inland, the angler was able to unhook the shark, tag it and take pictures with the sea creature. While Hernandez isn’t sure of the shark’s exact weight, he measured it at 11-feet long and 5-feet around.

When it came time to release the shark, Hernandez had to “swing it back and forth by its tail” so it could gain momentum to swim into deeper water, he said.

While Hernandez said catching the tiger shark was the “best experience” he’s had in his three years of shark fishing, his next goal is to catch a hammerhead shark.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/science/texas-angler-hooks-11-foot-tiger-shark-it-was-the-catch-of-a-lifetime