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Bull Shark, 513 pounds, could be new Texas state record PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Thursday, 07 June 2007
Randy Rickerson of Corpus Christi caught a nine-foot, 513-pound bull shark in the bay near Port Aransas. It could be the new Texas state record.
HEAVY HAUL: Randy Rickerson, left, and Mike Celava stand by Rickerson’s 513-pound bull shark caught in the bay near Port Aransas.
Randy Rickerson of Corpus Christi caught a nine-foot, 513-pound bull shark near the Lydiann Channel at the point of Mud Island near the Port Aransas Lighthouse on May 18. Rickerson was fishing with his brother-in-law, Mike Celava of Portland. He was using 50-pound test line on a Penn Senator 114 HL reel. Rickerson fought the fish for two hours and 10 minutes.

“It nearly spooled me the first run,” Rickerson said, estimating the shark took out 100 yards of line. “I couldn’t have done it without Mike running the boat.”

The two were fishing for sharks, using a 10-inch mullet for bait and a plastic Sprite bottle for a float.

The fish is expected to be certified as a state record, which currently stands at 508 pounds. Rickerson fought the fish for two hours and 10 minutes using a Penn Senator 114HL reel spooled with 50-pound test line. The current state record stands at 508 pounds.

The fish probably weighed more when it was caught. After a two and one-half hour tow into the dock, getting the fish weighed was the next problem.

The giant shark was taken to more than one place in search of a large enough scale. At Fisherman’s Wharf, the person who would operate the scale was in Virginia, Rickerson said. “Then we learned from Parks and Wildlife that it had to be weighed in three days,” he said. On May 20, Carrie Scales was at Fisherman’s Wharf and weighed the fish.

It weighed 513 pounds. “We calibrated our scales after (so it would be legal) and we found we were 3 pounds short, but we are going to leave it at 513 unless they (the state) tells us we can count the three pounds,” she said.

Scales said there was a lot of confusion as with any big record fish. “We have a large walk-in cold storage and I’m sure it lost weight during the two days it sat in there.”

Rickerson said he was told it could have lost up to 15 pounds.
Last Updated ( Saturday, 16 June 2007 )
 
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