Did a fishing crew catch the biggest shark in state history?

BRIELLE -- A fishing boat named the Jenny Lee caught a 926-pound Mako shark Saturday morning and it could be the largest shark catch in New Jersey history.

The crew was fishing 100 miles off of the coast of New Jersey in an area known as Hudson Canyon. It took the crew a little over an hour to reel in the shark and hour and a half to get him into the boat, Kevin Gerrity, captain of the Jenny Lee, said.

"It's a pretty awesome feeling," Gerrity said. "We saw him swimming up to the boat. We didn't think we were going to get him but we got him."

"We were able to get him with a skipjack fillet with a squid combo as his last meal," Gerrity added jokingly.

In all, the combination of Matt Lockett, Nick Rondinella, Bill Miccio, Steve Miccio, Mark Miccio, Matt Miccio and Matt Lockett took turns at the fishing pole to try to bring in the big Mako shark.  Mark Miccio said that the fish was so big, that it was almost pulling people overboard in while they were in a harness.

"Captain Dave and Captain Kevin were great," said Miccio. "We wouldn't have gotten that shark if it were not for them."

According to the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, the record weight for a shark was an 880-pound tiger shark caught off the coast of Cape May in 1988.

The Hudson Canyon has been an area that is populated by tuna, marlins and mako sharks. The canyon has produced multiple record setting fish. The heaviest fish ever recorded happened in 1986 when a 1,046-pound blue marlin was also caught in the Hudson Canyon.

Chris Franklin can be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @cfranklinnews. Find NJ.com on Facebook

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