Back in the early 2000s, local fishing guide, Capt. Robert Vail ran into a massive greater hammerhead while fishing the short rigs for king mackerel. He estimated the fish to be anywhere from 14 feet in length. It was eyeing a pair of king mackerels he and his friend were fighting.
“It would be after one of the kings,” Vail said. “Then the other would splash and grab its attention, and it would swim over there. This fish was absolutely huge and swam right by our boat.”
Such sightings are now a rarity and anyone who gets a look at any true hammerhead is fortunate.
One of my fondest outdoor memories involves battling a seven-foot-long scalloped hammerhead at a rig 50 miles out of Aransas Pass.
My goal was simply to get the fish close to the boat, snap a quick photo and release it to fight another day. This fish would make a long, determined run. Next, it would swim toward the boat and dive down deep. Then, it would repeat the process. This happened probably four times in the course of 25 minutes, and I was getting a bit tired.
Still, the thrill of battling a hammerhead was strong, especially for someone who grew up (well sort of) shark obsessed. I always thought hammerheads were super cool.
Finally, I thought, I had the fish beat as it surfaced alongside the boat. However, the shark simply spat out the big hunk of bait and swam off.
The big one got away, but we were going to release it anyway as most anglers do with sharks along the coast.
Chester Moore
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