The shortfin mako is the bane of anglers worldwide. It's the oceans
version of the grizzly bear.
Only this bear, has a wolverines disposition.
Shortfin
Mako Isurus oxyrinchus
The Maori, (New Zealand ) used their word mako to
describe this extraordinary fish. The high leaping, boat attacking great game fish
worldwide is the shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus. We have some of the
largest makos in the world in our New England waters. A running jumping mako is
probably the best game fish in the world.
There are two species of mako. The other mako species, the
longfin, Isurus paucus, is not in our waters. It is found
farther offshore in the Gulf Stream and on down to the Caribbean.
When anglers use the word mako, they are in
almost every case referring to the shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus.
IGFA Record - 1,221 lbs. set
here in Massachusetts...................Massachusetts record - 1,324 lbs. |
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Females: 12-1/2 foot fork length
Max weight - 1,600 lbs.
Males:
9 foot fork length - 575 lbs.Although
mid 60 deg. water is considered ideal for makos, the larger makos can tolerate water in
the
low 50s. |
Snout
is pointed.
Eyes are solid black  Lower tail is 80- 90% as long as upper tail. Body is streamlined, with a
dark bluish black back and a snow white
bottom.
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Body section going into tail is bulged out and
flattened.
Second dorsal is very small and slightly ahead of anal fin.
Area under the lower jaw is white on the shortfin, and dark on the longfin. |
Typical Mako teeth are smooth edged, dagger like, as
shown in the picture below on the left. Exceptionally large Makos, have teeth more wedge
shaped, and less dagger like.
Notice in this monstrous Maine caught mako the more wedge shaped teeth, somewhat similar
to a white. A white's teeth will have serrations. (Also as is typical
of the Lamnidae family sharks, notice the smaller third tooth to the right of the center
of the upper jaw.) |
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The photo on the left is a scanned
local newspaper photo from the Old Colony Memorial newspaper. The picture was taken
at night, of a giant mako harpooned in Mass. Bay on July 8, 1997 about 13 miles east of
Humarock Beach, Scituate, just east of the “H” buoy, by the Karen M. out of
Plymouth Mass.. This is one of the largest makos in the world.
This fish weighed in at 1,530 lbs.
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Maine caught Mako
photo - Karl Bacon,
Five Islands Maine
The mako weighed 846 lbs, was over 10' long and had
a 6'-3" girth.
It was caught on August 19, 2001 at New Scantum on
Andy Boyt's My Reel Job. Andy (the one closet to the shark) was the angler
and Karl Bacon was helmsman and wireman.
For
tackle they used Penn International 50 TW reels; loaded with 80-pound test monofilament,
all on straight butt Penn Tuna Sticks. Fishing
was fought “stand-up”. The battle lasted 2 1/2 hours.
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Largest rod and reel mako in the world.
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On July 27,
1999, Capt. Kevin Scola on the left, and angler Billy Silvia on the
"Survival", took on rod and reel, a 1,324 pound mako
in Mass. Bay at Stellwagen Bank. They brought the mako into their homeport
Green Harbor, Marshfield Mass. It was weighed the following day.
I saw the fish intact, and it was enormous. It was 11
foot 2 inches to the fork and 96 inches in girth. It will not qualify as an
IGFA record, because the fish was fought out of the rod holder. This 1,324 pounder
is a new Mass. State rod and reel record.
The IGFA world all tackle rod and reel mako record is
another Massachusetts mako weighing 1,221 lbs.
Photo - Belsan's Bait and Tackle, Scituate Mass.
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This 1,221 lb. Mako is a new IGFA all tackle
record, it was taken in the Oak Bluffs, Mass. Shark tournament on July 21, 2001
off Chatham Mass.. The boat "Dazed and Confused" was Captained by Chris Peters.
The angler was Luke Sweeney.
Photo courtesy of Capt. Buck Berry
Mako
Stats. |
| Fork length |
Pounds |
| 11 feet female |
1,000 pounds |
| 10-1/2 female |
850 |
| 10 feet female |
750 |
| 9-1/2 female |
620 |
| 9 feet |
525 |
| 8-1/2 |
440 pounds |
| 8 feet |
360 |
| 7-1/2 |
300 |
| 7 feet |
240 |
| 6-1/2 |
190 |
| 6 feet |
150 pounds |
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Another massive Mass. Bay
mako.
Without the boy in the picture you would have no idea of how big that mako was.
It is well over a thousand pounds. It is gutted and iced down. The white insulated tarp to
the left is used to keep it covered and cooled down.
Looks like the right pectoral fin and dorsal were removed to get it through the
transom door - or over the gunnel, if it was taken aboard by gin pole.
From the tip of the snout to the front edge of the first dorsal fin is approx.
37% of the overall body length on a shortfin mako. (About the same relationship for a
white.)
The boat is the "Hacker" out of Green Harbor. Mass. Mike
told me the tail extended into the cabin.
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| NOVA SCOTIA
has
makos also. Most people don't think of makos as being in New England and other cooler
places like Nova Scotia.
But the fact is the largest makos in the world pass through
these waters. More people are sharkfishing now and mako encounters will become more common
here in New England and Nova Scotia.
I am not implying we have a lot of makos here on the north side of Cape Cod;
just more than most people realize. And bigger too. |
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This mako weighed in
at 492 kilograms, 1,082
pounds
It was taken during the Yarmouth Nova Scotia Shark
Scramble during August 2004.
From left to right .
On the left, Capt. Bernard Tedford in the red hat; next, Jamie Doucette ( the angler)
Then Terry Bullerwell and Donovan Cunningham.
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There was an
internet story making the rounds of how the mako towed the boat
backward. I knew it was bull, so I e-mailed one of the crew.
Excerpt from an e-
mail from one of the crew.
Hi. It took about 45 minutes to get the shark to the stern. In hindsight
it
was too fast - as we were using 200 lb. test (braided line).
It was
pandemonium getting the ropes on it but it didn't tow the boat.
We got two
small head straps on it first, and tied them off. Seconds after we got a
larger rope around her midsection, she broke both head ropes and the
leader all at the same time.
Tom here- The photo of the Nova Scotian mako on the left has also
been passed off as an Internet hoax claiming it is a white, and was caught
in local waters.
If it were a white the first dorsal would be different looking, and the
tiny second dorsal would be well ahead of the anal fin which is below
it.
I thank the many people from Nova Scotia who sent me photos of the mako
and the information on the catch. |
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This mako was taken off the coast of Liverpool, Nova
Scotia.
Some mako hookups go un-noticed. A lot of makos don't jump and just cut
themselves loose or strip all the line off a reel and the angler has no idea he had a mako
on the line.
Every mako seems to fight differently and if they don't jump you could think
you had a blue shark on the line until you get it boatside; then all hell can break
loose.
The mako is a very individualistic fish and can catch you off guard. So be
careful. - Tom
Photo: courtesy of angler John Conrod who is in the picture, on the far left. |
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On August 25, 2002, out in Mass. Bay, one of our charters caught
this shot of a mako in the air. This was one of five sensational jumps.
One jump at hookup, and then 4 quick sensational jumps an hour later. The mako is about 10
feet overall -Notice the bird to the right "Putting on the brakes"
No marlin, or trained dolphin at Seaworld can reach the height an airborne mako can
achieve. Makos can clear 20 feet. I released 4 makos in Mass Bay in 2002, this
one broke loose after an hour ten minutes just after the fifth jump. Earlier we had
it close on the surface to size it up. When I saw it was 500 plus I decided on another
hour . Good call; I wouldn't want 4 jumps like this along side the boat - Tom |
Comparison of the shortfin and longfin mako.
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You
are not going to catch this longfin mako species in our
New England waters unless you get out into the Gulf Stream or fish the
Canyons.
The longfin mako, Isurus
paucus is now a protected species and should be released unharmed.
The shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus is not protected.
Notice the very dark head and chin area of the
longfin, on the left, and the lack of white so prevalent in the shortfin mako's head and
chin area in the photos below.
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The longfin mako,
Isurus paucus, has a dark area under the chin, a
darker head and a darker underside. Its eyes are, larger
than the shortfin's. It has longer swept back pectoral fins that can be seen in the photo.
The longfin mako is now a protected
species.
The shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus, has white
under its chin, a snow white belly area, and more normal sized pectoral
fins. Both species are jumpers when hooked. The shortfin is
excellent table fare , but the longfin has poor food quality. It has darker
softer meat. |
Here is an example of how you can mis-identify a species if
all you do is see one characteristic.
Look at how long the left pectoral fin is, on this mako. The pectoral looks to long for a
shortfin mako. But it is not swept back like a longfin mako's pectoral fin.
Look at the head, the relatively small black eye and the white chin area. This is a
shortfin mako.
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Photo courtesy- Christopher S. Moore, NOAA; Commanding Officer,
NOAA Ship DAVID STARR
The mako is a species where the females
are much larger than the males. Male makos rarely weigh over
550 lbs. The females have a potential of reaching 1,600 lbs.
Although the mako sexes grow about the same rate for their age, the females appear to have
a longer life span. When hooked, these thousand pound female makos can
still bolt and go upwards 20 feet in the air. |
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Makos own the ocean~
The shortfin mako dominates the ocean. Some fish experts believe the short fin mako, Isurus
oxyrinchus, is one of the fastest fish in the ocean. A mako
will out jump any marlin by a considerable margin. The shortfin mako, is the
highest leaping and most dangerous gamefish in the world. No wimpy, belly to the
water marlin type jumps for a mako. Some of the mako's somersaulting violent
reckless jumps have caused anglers to pass the rod off to another fisherman.
(Actually there is an advantage to being the angler in a mako
battle. You won't have to gaff the mako, one of the most dangerous events in
fishing. Or if you decide to release the mako you won't have to reach down and
cut it loose.)
There are plenty of mako disaster stories from around the world;
including wrecked cockpits and fatalities, and a lot of injuries in between.
Some mako fiasco stories will never be told, because the embarrassed
anglers got their reputations and asses kicked.
Not all makos are jumpers or that troublesome, but the
potential is always there. For that reason alone, shark identification
is important, especially when you have a chance of encountering a mako.
We don't have as many makos on the north side of Cape Cod as there
are on the south side. But what we have are big makos, that can endure the cooler
water. This fish is different, and you can sense it. The mako has
an attitude. It owns the ocean, and you are trespassing in its
territory. Chopping tails off other sharks, swordfish , tuna, marlin,-and
attacking boats when hooked- gets the message across. According to the IGFA,
the short fin mako is the “undisputed leader in attacks on boats.” I have
seen cruising makos just jump up out of the water near the boat and fall back with a big
crash. I felt it was a way of them saying: "Your in my territory."
Makos are bullies.
A mako is primarily a fish eater. However a mako will
occasionally attack and kill an air breathing dolphin, or a seal. Makos usually stay
in water offshore, so encounters with swimmers in shallow water are rare for the
mako. Occasionally a mako will be caught from shore.
Just like the blueshark the mako is a world wide fish. |
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Range of the
Shortfin Mako, Isurus oxyrinchus |
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Shortfin makos are found worldwide, as is the blue
shark. Makos will attack and kill blue sharks. The mako is the bully in its
territory. They have broken loose from anglers and came back and attacked the
boat.. Nothing in the Ocean is in a class with the mako. They are the
wolverines of the seas. |
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Updated August 14, 2008 -
Scituate, Massachusetts
