Shortfin Mako Isurus oxyrinchus

A running jumping mako is probably the best game fish in the world. Makos cause grief to anglers, by terrorizing crews with aerial acrobatics, by jumping into cockpits, injuring boatmen, or after being gaffed going berserk and breaking loose at boat side-or just deciding after being hooked to attack the boat. And when you think it is all over and they are finished, makos have come alive, after their apparent death – sometimes 4 hours later. This is a fish that can continue to fight back in the cockpit.

Makos in the 200-600 lb. range are common catches for anglers on the East Coast. When you are talking about heavier makos than that, they will be females since male makos over 600 lbs are rare. If it’s a “grander” it ‘s a female. Those big makos don’t seem to slow down with size or age. They just present you with bigger problems. 
You don’t have to leave New England, and go to an exotic location to encounter the world’s largest makos. We have the mako catches here to prove that.

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.  The longfin mako is a protected species, and is rarely encountered by anglers. It stays well offshore, and they are not as plentiful as the shortfin.  The longfin mako can be differentiated from the shortfin by its long swept back pectoral fins-hence its common name, “longfin”.  Otherwise the teeth, and the body appearance are just like a shortfin. The longfin has a dark area under the lower jaw, and the area from the upper jaw to the snout will also be dark. 
The shortfin mako, will have white in those areas above and below the mouth, and will have shorter pectoral fins. Both species are jumpers. The shortfin is excellent table fare the longfin is not.
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 State record - 1,324 lbs.

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. 

The durability of a mako.

Michael Pratt and Jeffrey Blackman, well known tuna fishermen out of Green Harbor, Mass. were tuna fishing on Stellwagen Bank in mid August, 2007. They were using rod and reel, and a live bluefish for tuna bait. They took a mako that after being gutted, weighed-in over 800 lbs. This catch in itself is interesting because of the large size of the mako, but what happened after the catch is interesting too. 

They gutted the mako in the water, and left it alongside the boat.

Removing any mako’s insides and liver is fatal to the mako, but unlike other earthly creatures, not immediately fatal. Makos die on their terms, not ours. 

After lying alongside the boat for 45 minutes, the mako was brought onboard. Fifteen minutes later, this gutted and presumed dead mako went berserk in the cockpit.  It clamped down on the gunnel with its teeth, and started ripping it up; breaking its teeth in the process. The mako got its body to snap bounce up 6 feet in the air and slam down on the deck sending shudders through the boat.  Because the mako was so large, it spanned the cockpit, gunnel to gunnel, and on the other side of the boat, with a violent tail swipe, the mako knocked a fairly new Shimano Tiagra 130 rod and reel out of the rod holder, sent it high up in the air and overboard - a $2,000 rod and reel gone in a matter of seconds. Mike hit the Man Overboard Button on the GPS, to mark the location of the lost gear.

The next day, they returned to the lost rod and reel location, with a diver, Robert Macaleese.    Rob went down to the bottom in 110 feet of water, and recovered the rod and reel. He said it was within 15 feet of the marker anchor on the bottom.

A post script to that story: 

I spoke to Mike’s father, Ralph Pratt, who flies his own spotter plane out of Marshfield Massachusetts.

Shortly after his son Michael’s mako/rod-reel adventure, Ralph was flying over Cape Cod Bay and spotted an extraordinarily large mako, south of the “Fishing Ledge.” - toward the area locally referred to as the “Parking Lot.”  Ralph called his son to check it out. Mike came over in his boat, got behind and close to the cruising mako, followed it, and estimated its size.  Michael said it was larger than the mako that he had caught a few days earlier – a lot larger! He estimated it to be about 1,500 lbs. However, they let it swim off and continued looking for tuna.  

Ralph Pratt has been a spotter plane pilot for 20 years. He told me that in the last couple of years he has seen more big makos in Cape Cod Bay, Mass. Bay, at Stellwagen Bank and at Wildcat Knoll areas than he had previously seen.