Fish taking boat rides

That happened to my father twice. Once the ray landed in the boat and once one went right over the top of him as he was sitting in a small boat fishing.

Hi,

Not being a sportfisherman of note I would like to add.

When winding in any of these large pelagic beasts expect that in their death throes they will do their bests to dump their captor, I have seen a numberof fish strip off 80lb gear like it didn't exist so IMO all big breeds are up for a battle.

True. But none of the fish being discussed here were hooked up at the time.

Hi,
Sorry I bothered to post in the first place.

I was only pointing that out because it makes it even more unlikely that they would end up in a boat.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/4825925/170kg-shark-leaps-into-fishermans-boat

I'll stick with the rays, thanks.

8' 375lb Mako jumps into boat!

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/outdoors/7495889.html

FREEPORT — It’s the catch of a lifetime, but it’s not clear whether a Texas fisherman landed an 8-foot shark or it landed him.

Jason Kresse, 29, of Freeport, and two crew members had been fishing for red snapper about 50 miles into the Gulf of Mexico and were dumping fish guts into the water about 3:45 a.m. Monday when they heard two big splashes in the distance.

“All of a sudden something hit the side of the boat,” Kresse told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “He ends up landing on the back of the boat.”

The mako shark had apparently been in a rush to feed. It began thrashing around, and Kresse said he and his crew couldn’t get close to the 375-pound fish to toss it back in the water. It damaged the boat before dying several hours later.

Kresse, who has been fishing since he was a child, said the unplanned catch was a shock. Just unloading it was a challenge because it was so heavy.

“We had to use a forklift to get it off the boat when we got to the dock,” Kresse said.

The crew didn’t have a permit to catch sharks, so Kresse contacted federal fisheries officials on shore to get one. Mike Cox, a spokesman with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said there’s no violation because the shark’s death was an accident.

The shark is on display at a seafood business in Freeport, about 55 miles south of Houston.

“I’m going to get a mount of it,” Kresse said. “A fish jumping in your boat, 400 pounds, that’s unbelievable.”

Apologies...didn't realize the NZ link was the same story to the posted to the Houston Chronicle. I guess news travels fast.

Glad you posted it because I would not had read the link but enjoyed reading the posted story