Mammoth hammerhead

By Nate Skinner

For Lone Star outdoor newS rays, jackfish and tarpon,” he said. “And apex predators, like giant hammerheads, come in to take advantage of it.”

John-Michael Kamel, and his buddy, Paul Thorburn, recently landed a 13-foot, 4-inch hammerhead shark from the surf along the Padre Island National Seashore. But despite making the trip with the intention of targeting big hammerheads, it took everything coming together for the pair to tangle with the creature.

Kamel has been chasing large sharks in the surf for years, always eyeing the late spring and early summer as the most optimal time to go.

As soon as Kamel and Thorburn could agree on a time window to hit the surf, they packed up and headed straight for PINS riding high hopes.

Upon arrival, the duo was promptly greeted by strong winds, a rough current and a whole lot of seaweed, so they continued south until they could find a stretch of water with a little more clarity, just north of the Port Mansfield jetties.

“The current was ripping along the beach, and the water was flowing like a river in the first and second guts,” Kamel said. “This seemed to push the baitfish a little farther offshore than we would have preferred.”

After chasing mullet for most of the day, the anglers had gotten ahold of enough finger mullet to catch three stingrays, which ranged from 20 to 35 pounds. With enough shark bait to deploy a spread of rods, they were able to start shark fishing late in the af-