A state record tiger shark was boated at 2023 tourney

A state record tiger shark was boated at 2023 tourney

One of the highlights of the 2023 Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo was the state record tiger shark of 1,019 pounds caught by Brett Rutledge.
This year’s rodeo will again feature shark categories for tiger shark and bull shark. Each shark weighed must be at least 80 inches, measured from the tip of the snout to the fork in the tail. The record-breaking fish bumped the 988 pounds, 8 ounces fish caught by Larry Eberly that held the Alabama record since 1990.
Rutledge’s record fish was certainly not caught by accident. He took his daughter and a friend out the day before the rodeo started to catch jack crevalle and bonitos to use for bait as well as collecting about 400 pounds of baitfish, like menhaden, for chum.
When they’re looking for fishing spots, it’s all about the abundance of bait around petroleum rigs, artificial reefs or natural bottom.
“I also got up early every morning to build shark leaders for two weeks,” Rutledge said. “I built different ones for different applications, depending on the bait we were using. We use 22/0 circle hooks for shark fishing with 700-pound stainless leader.
“We want to use big enough tackle to be able to manhandle a fish. I got that fish to the boat in 30 minutes. We had that shark roped to the boat in 36 minutes total. It took another hour and a half to get it in the boat.”
Rutledge said he realized this was a huge shark about 15 minutes into the fight when fishing mate Derrick Rogers spotted the fish and said it was “real long and real girthy.” David Rogers, Connor Blake and Joey Spiers were his other fishing partners.
“I didn’t think the fish was 1,000 pounds, so I was happy when they called out the numbers,” he said. “Derrick and Connor are really good shark fishermen. I did the easy part. I reeled it in. The hard part was what they did when they roped it and got it inside the boat.”