PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. – Peter Buban is a big guy who has a big fish story to tell.
While fishing in Palm Beach County, Fla., recently, he felt a tug on the line.
“We just saw the reel start screaming, and I jump, I put up my harness and I start to fight the fish and I realize it’s going to be a huge fish!”
With the help of his friends, he fought the monster for almost an hour.
It was Buban’s biggest catch ever: a 13-foot, 9-inch hammerhead shark weighing 1,000 pounds.
It won him his first competition and was a record for the Black Tip Challenge Annual Fishing Tournament.
“I basically beat everybody by 2 and a half or three feet, he said. “It’s very rare that somebody is going to beat you with this kind of fish.”
The shark was released and Buban himself personally followed the shark offshore for 200 yards in his kayak to make sure it was ok and could swim away.
Most fishermen don’t want to harm the sharks at all, that’s why they use a circle hook, the point bends in therefore it doesn’t dig into the shark’s flesh… as opposed to the “J” hook which would tear up its insides.
Buban believes in conserving the animals.
“We have to protect them, catch and release, try to be very gentle with them.”
Originally from Czechoslovakia, Buban started fishing at a very young age. “I start fishing when I was 9 years old. Basically I was born with a rod in my hand and I start fishing on small rivers.”
From small rivers to the Atlantic Ocean, you can experience Massive shark caught!
Moving to South Florida is a dream to the avid angler. “If you catch one huge fish, it’s like a drug, you cannot stop. It’s like motivation to catch bigger and bigger fish.”
He doesn’t want this beast to be his biggest fish tale. “I hope this isn’t my fish of a lifetime because I hope to catch something even better.”
For more about catching big sharks, FWC has it all
