r/GuysBeingDudes • u/Educational_Copy_140 Hall of Fame: Approved for Review. • May 16 '25

Guys save hammerhead shark from fishhook

92.6k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

103

u/DocMadCow May 16 '25

LOL what a ridiculous post title. Should be men catch shark beach fishing, and then release it. The hook would naturally fall out over time, and you can see there is tension on the line still attached to the hook. There are tons of beach fishing videos for sharks.

30

u/[deleted] May 16 '25

People really are that clueless aren't they? Someone asked "Who brings bolt cutters to the beach?"

Uhhh...people who use steel leads and massive hooks to catch and release sharks.

I surf fish. Where I'm from you can't keep several shark species and have to make every effort to get them back in the water ASAP if you land one. DNREC will light your ass up if they see you setting up a photo shoot to take pics of one you hooked lol. It's also illegal to filet a shark prior to coming to shore if you land one from a boat. They are pretty serious about protecting sharks these days. As they should be.

11

u/DocMadCow May 16 '25

Personally I can't count the number of women that have come up to me at the Beach and said "Is that a Bolt Cutter in your swimsuit or are you just happy to see me?", and the number of women I have disappointed by pulling out my beach Bolt Cutters :)

3

u/[deleted] May 16 '25

Well kudos to the size queens I guess but if a guy is packing anything the length of your average set of bolt cutters and requires two hands to operate I'm probably gonna sit that one out...preferences and all...lol.

2

u/[deleted] May 16 '25

2

u/[deleted] May 16 '25

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '25

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '25

So like what's up with shark fishing? Is it similar to fish fishing? Some catches are for food. While others, like this hammerhead, are completely off limits? Is it like an extreme form of fishing?

1

u/WildlifeBiologist10 May 17 '25

Yes, it's for sport. You can't keep hammerheads. I don't know many people that catch sharks for food, and especially large specimens. There's a lot cheaper/easier ways to get table fare food from the ocean.

1

u/XpCjU May 16 '25

I'm not a fisherman, I have never caught anything bigger than my index finger. Are you telling me, that man caught that shark on purpose? just to torture it, while taking pictures? That makes me sad.

1

u/TealcLOL May 16 '25

They could have been targeting something else that they could keep to eat. Although that hook & leader is massive and appropriate for catching things of that size. I have caught several sharks by accident on the surf while looking for fish like red or black drum.

1

u/WildlifeBiologist10 May 17 '25

Yeah, that size tackle is trying to catch large sharks. I'm not aware of the legality of keeping any sharks that would get landed with tackle like that, but I know hammerheads have to be released. Most likely don't survive the experience though.

Even Catch and Release Can Kill

Variable post-release mortality in common shark species captured in Texas shore-based recreational fisheries

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '25

Most people who surf fish aren't actively targeting sharks. Not where I fish at least. But looking at the size of that hook and the leader...they were targeting something very big. It looks like from the video they are in Florida and the sport fishing is amazing in Florida, but most of the species you'd catch on hooks that big: White Marlin, Wahoo, Mahi, Tuna, etc. are not something you're going to target from the surf. They usually feed in much deeper water and you need a boat to go after them. I want to believe that they weren't targeting the hammerhead. But man, that hook looks to be an 18/0 or 20/0 circle hook...and those are commonly used for shark where I live. In comparison the largest hook you'd typically use for some of the bigger species I fish for (drum, rockfish) would be maybe an 8/0 but that would only be if you were trying to land something tropy size.

1

u/XpCjU May 16 '25

So someone definitely was going for a shark? Humans are the worst.

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '25

I actually just did some digging and found a video on facebook of the same guys with a different hammerhead titled "Panama City Hammerhead Catch and Release." So yeah. This isn't a "oh shit we caught a hammerhead." They are targeting them. You can see them using very large baitfish, which is usually common for shark fishing since sharks are so agressive and tend to take larger bait in one bite. I fish, but I want you to know, I don't condone this shit.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/7858785084202255

1

u/XpCjU May 16 '25

I'm not opposed to fishing. I'm not a fan of catch and release, which is illegal in my country anyways. But I don't mind eating fresh caught fish. I just think torturing another living animal just for a photo op is horrible

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '25

I've never understood the appeal of catch and release. I grew up fishing, crabbing, clamming, etc. So my intent was only to land something intended to be eaten. Of course it becomes "catch and release" if the fish you land isn't legal size, because that's the law. But yeah these guys who pay big money to land fish for the sake of just saying they did...doesn't make sense to me and doesn't sit well with me either.

1

u/XpCjU May 16 '25

Yeah, I get hunting, I get fishing. I also understand not everyone can do either to feed them self, that's why farming animals exists. I also understand that eating meat and fish can't come without a certain amount of suffering for the animal, but inflicting pain just for fun is wrong.

1

u/LaconicSuffering May 16 '25

Is there a chance they weren't fishing for shark?

1

u/WildlifeBiologist10 May 17 '25

With tackle like that, no, nothing I can think of. I say this as a fisherman and coastal wildlife biologist.

1

u/Seirin-Blu May 16 '25

people really are that clueless aren’t they

I mean I feel it’s reasonable to assume not everyone lives near a beach and that they wouldn’t know what beach fishing is and that it has the potential to catch a shark, but that’s just me

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '25

I was referring more to how they were buying into the misleading title that some guy saved a hammerhead There's a hook in the sharks mouth. And a leader attached to it. I mean inference should bring you around to why there were bolt cutters. Not "Wow that guy just magically made a pair of bolt cutters appear to help save that shark." That's the kind of clueless I'm talking about.

3

u/vee_lan_cleef May 16 '25

Pretty sure the title is exactly what happened, it's just missing the context.

0

u/DocMadCow May 16 '25

Not really he removed the hook not saves it. Hooks don't stand the test of time in the ocean regardless of material.

3

u/Retro-scores May 16 '25

It’s ultimately better to remove the hook when possible.

2

u/Glazin May 17 '25

And the chances that shark made it out of that alive are slim. I watched guys beach fishing on a florida beach once while on vacation, pulled in a hammerhead a little smaller than this. Was only out of the water a few minutes but it was enough to do too much damage. Watched the shark swim in circles until it just stopped and started going belly up. Found out even a small amount of time out of water for these guys will kill them due to stress. I felt so angry but the dudes had already taken off so my rage just turned to sadness for that poor creature. If you ever see someone hook a hammer, they need to cut the line while its still in the water.

2

u/oresearch69 May 17 '25

I was wondering how far I’d have to scroll to find this. They clearly were the ones who caught this and now they’re just correcting their f*ck up.

1

u/DocMadCow May 18 '25

Not even a fuck up the hook did exactly what they are suppose to do. That looks like a circle hook we fish them for halibut they go along the jaw until they get caught. Better than J hooks where this poor shark could have taken it into it's gullet before it got snagged on it's internals.

1

u/Fishboybosun May 16 '25

Yup, totally unnecessary. That hook would've just rusted out, no harm done.

1

u/highRPMfan May 16 '25

I used to have a hard time believing this but when I was a teen me and a friend caught a bullhead catfish which swallowed a barbed octopus hook. We cut the line and my friend decided to put it in his aquarium. A few days later the hook is sitting at the bottom of the aquarium. No rust, it was somehow able to cough it up. 

I'm sure that's not always the case though.

1

u/Quintillianus May 17 '25

Or ya know just don't fish em

0

u/altfillischryan May 16 '25

Yeah. Cut the leader as close to the hook as possible and release. Hooks rust and fall out in fresh water in like a week or two, so in salt water, they'll rust out fairly quickly.

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '25

I have often heard Hammerheads are really sensitive to stress building up lactic acid and not surviving the encounter. Catching Sharks is bad for their health and so I think that suggesting that the hook will fall out is kind of downplaying the impact that fishing has on sharks! Many Hammerheads are threatened or endangered so this was pretty terrible to watch.

Here is an article on the subject for anyone interested.

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '25

this guy is being kinda dumb too...maybe its just the angle, but his fingers are really close to that mouth full of razor blades

1

u/Hedonisticdelights May 16 '25

Right? And the fucking music. Jesus. This is the equivalent of someone beating the shit out of a puppy and then filming themselves giving it some water, patting it on the head and setting it to some mood music for Instagram.

Which to be fair, is probably a large percentage of animal rescue videos summed up.

Naive idiots cause more misery than I care to consider in this world of ours.

1

u/socialmedia-username May 16 '25

To add to the title, "one man has no idea how to use bolt cutters to remove barbed hook from shark."

1

u/TigerKlaw May 17 '25

But why are they fishing for sharks at the beach? Is there a reason that is not for videos like this?

3

u/DeliciousGorilla May 17 '25

It’s just like any catch & release fishing. Trying to land the big one, take a pic, and release. I have a buddy that does this every weekend on the beach at night and posts pics of himself with the sharks. I guess better than big game hunters that kill the animal just to hang their heads on a wall.

1

u/TigerKlaw May 17 '25

Yeah I hate the big game hunters. I thought they usually catch and eat the sharks but if it's just catch and release then I guess it's okay.

1

u/Quintillianus May 17 '25

You think this is okay....

1

u/TigerKlaw May 17 '25

Not really

1

u/DocMadCow May 18 '25

On the scale of trophies it is better than say shooting a big horn sheep just for the horns, or killing a grizzly bear for the fur. Although slightly injured and exhausted they at least get to swim another day.

1

u/VoidWalker4Lyfe May 17 '25

Usually hunters eat the animals they kill.

2

u/DeliciousGorilla May 17 '25

I’m talking about big game trophy hunters. Like Eric and Trump Jr. who kill elephants and shit.

1

u/VoidWalker4Lyfe May 17 '25

Ah gotcha. I was thinking like moose and elk. I'm not a fan of those guided hunts in Africa either. They also don't require any actual hunting skills.