By King George

That's the best way to describe Mako shark, one of which is pictured above and this is what the photographer saw an instant before torpedoing itself out of the water and landing in the back of the boat.

South Gippsland Game Fishing club member Steve Martin had been battling to catch a Mako, took out his brand new18 ft boat, following mate Phil Wardell. They were off Woolamai and had been fishing for about 15 minutes using squid when the fish decided to liven things up. The interesting thing about this picture is that at the time the shark was not hooked but just decided to attack, scary stuff.

It eventually slid back into the water but was hooked by Steve a short time later on a 24 kg line and after a long battle finally landed the fish, which weighed 106 kg.

These are a much sought after game fish which when hooked up will go berserk and tail walk. Phil has seen them jump right out of the water, clearing boats completely and on one occasion a Mako did just that to him.

These are a great table fish that are common in our ocean waters and inlets. They
are always looking for an easy meal and there is none easier than a bag of fish hanging
over the side of a boat, but if the catch is kept in a bin inside the chances of
losing it diminishes greatly.

The bottom line to remember with these fish is that they are dangerous and unpredictable.