On Wednesday, June 27, angler Paul Motta and 5of his friends headed out at first light and didn’t have to wait very long before one of their rods bent over.
“It was crazy,” Motta said. “We probably stood with the rod 20, 30 minutes each until we got really fatigued. Three and a half four hours it seemed like this shark never wanted to come up.” It did come up, and the guys raced back to J&B Tackle, where the monster shark weighed in at 497 pounds (225 kilograms). If the big shark catch is certified, it should best the standing state record, which was set in 2006 with a 467-pounder also in Montauk.