Once these fish get over the 500-pound mark, the monstrous strength and power of the animals is enormous and the skill to wrangle them becomes that much more of a task.

An 1,175-pound mako shark is believed to be the biggest fish ever landed on rod and reel off the California coastline. Steve Quinlan, a former Western Outdoors Associate Editor, says the mako will probably be the last big shark killed on his boat. Quinlan has made a name for himself in tournament shark fishing, taking the title both seasons on the Shark Hunters television show.

“We all knew this one fish would be our whole tournament,” said Steve Quinlan, captain of this Southern California-based shark-fishing team. The two-day finale allowed each team to weigh in one fish per day, which meant that this one huge fish would have to stand up against the combined two-day catches of some of the best shark anglers on the water.

Proving that you don’t have to be big to be good, Southern California mako expert Steve Quinlan and Team Strike Zone beat out the region’s top mako pros, winning it all in the Ultimate Sharkhunters’ Tournament Series.

“Our sponsorship of the Shark Hunters series is a great venue for promoting the rugged performance and hardcore angling aspects of our boats,” said Pro-Line General Manager Johnny Walker. “We were very enthusiastic about presenting Captain Steve with his prize boat last year, but for him to turn around and win this year’s competition in a Pro-Line was truly an honor for us.”