Texas TV host lands world-record Mako shark by shooting it with a bow

TV host Jeff Thomason, of Weatherford, Texas, landed a world bowfishing record for Mako shark August 12 off the coast of Huntington Beach, California. The shark, which weighed 809.5 pounds and stretched 11 feet, beat the previous world bowfishing record for Mako by about 300 pounds, according to the Bowfishing Association of America. less TV host Jeff Thomason, of Weatherford, Texas, landed a world bowfishing record for Mako shark August 12 off the coast of Huntington Beach, California. The shark, which weighed 809.5 pounds and stretched 11 ... more Photo: Courtesy Of Jeff Thomason Photo: Courtesy Of Jeff Thomason Image 1 of / 30 Caption Close Texas TV host lands world-record Mako shark by shooting it with a bow 1 / 30 Back to Gallery

A Texas angler and television host used a compound bow to arrow an 809 pound Mako shark off the California coast last month.

Jeff Thomason landed the huge fish, which weighed 809.5 pounds and stretched 11 feet, off the coast of Huntington Beach, California on August 12. The shark beat the previous world bowfishing record for Mako by about 300 pounds, according to the Bowfishing Association of America.

Thomason, of Weatherford, hosts the cable television show "Predator Pursuit," which airs on the Sportsman Channel. Thomason said the world-record catch took a total of five people 30 minutes to haul in.

Thomason and his crew spread chum in large area and waited for about 30 minutes for a shark to get close enough to shoot, Lone Star Outdoor News reported.

“They’ve got to be about three feet from the boat to get the arrow to stick, so we threw a fish on a line and teased him to the boat,” Thomason told Lone Star Outdoor News. “I try and shoot for the top of the back. As soon as the arrow hit, all hell broke loose. We freaked out because I spined him and we thought he might sink."

The crew raced back to shore after securing the fish and had it measured at a certified weigh station in Los Angeles.

"It was one of those days when everything went right," Thomason said.

The largest Mako shark ever caught weighed 1,221 pounds and was reeled in off the coast of Massachusetts in 2001 with a rod and reel, according to the International Game and Fish Association.

Thomason and his crew donated 400 pounds of shark meat to a Los Angeles homeless shelter, according to Lone Star Outdoor News.

jfechter@express-news.net

Twitter: @JFreports