PADRE ISLAND, Texas — Two fishermen made the catch of a lifetime at JP Luby Beach on Padre Island last Friday.
Glenn Laskowski Jr. and his friend JR took their kids fishing with a 20-pound cownose stingray for bait from Castaways Bait and Tackle. After less than two hours of waiting, they would begin to reel in a great hammerhead that weighed almost 1,000 pounds.
"It was an battle back and forth for almost a hour and 30 minutes," Laskowski said. "We finally were able to land the fish and get to see the true size of the monster. We quickly dehooked the fish, and got some quick pictures then went to release the fish."
The pair said they spent more than 30 minutes fighting the current to try to get the shark back to open waters.
"Unfortunately, the fish didn’t wanna swim off due to its size and long fight in over all the sandbars. Not all swim off but most will," Laskowski said. They decided to take the shark to be weighed and measured. It came in at 14'4 and just shy of 1,000 pounds!
"The meat was all given away and very greatly appreciated by everyone," Laskowski said. "It was a sight to see for everyone, including Glenn and JR, who are very avid and experienced shark anglers on the Corpus coast."
Back in July, 3NEWS spoke with the Harte Research Institute about the stigma surrounding shark fishing.
"Texas actually has a really healthy shark population", said Dr. Kesley Banks with the Harte Research Institute at TAMU-CC. She said it is perfectly fine to harvest your shark if you're doing so within state regulations, but conservation is their goal.