Anglers brought four sharks to scales
The CAROLINA BELLE, captained by David Shaw of Hollywood, S.C. brought a 1023.5-pound tiger shark to the scales for first place at the Edisto Watersports and Tackle Shark Tournament this past Saturday, June 8. Crew member Charlie Morrow of Edisto Beach did the bulk of the reeling on the big shark. Steven Stroman, also of Edisto Beach, and Shaw also took turns fighting the half-ton shark.
The tiger shark measured 12-foot, 9-inches in length. The CAROLINA BELLE brought the trophy shark in just as the scales opened at 3:30 in front of a big crowd. The audience packed the docks, and plenty of boats were also anchored down to watch from the water.
The crew pocketed $5000 for the win.
Big bull shark claimed second place
Cottageville’s Capt. Trey Stivender and the BAD COMPANY took second place with a big bull shark. It appeared at first to be a new South Carolina state record. The scale showed 502.5 pounds when it was first weighed. This would have broken the current record by dozens of pounds. But due to a technicality cited by the SCDNR, the crew was asked to weigh the shark a second time after it was removed from the scales and placed back in the water for some time.
Upon the second weighing, the scales recorded a weight of 425 pounds. This was short of breaking the current record, but still good enough for second place in the tournament.
Capt. Cal Young, a charter guide with Edisto Beach Watersports and Tackle and Madison Utsey of Walterboro finished third in the contest. Their shark was the second tiger to be weighed. It tipped the scales at 499 pounds.
The HALF CHAIN took fourth place with a lemon shark caught by Bax Culler of Walterboro. The shark weighed 245 pounds.
The SCDNR oversaw the tournament, which had twenty-five boats fishing. Researchers from Georgia Southern University were on hand to gather samples from each shark. These samples will be used to gather invaluable information about sharks, much of which is still a mystery to fisheries biologists. After the tournament, the shark meat was donated to a local food bank.
Click here to read about last year’s shark tournament.
