Mark revealed why hen dos are the most fun to take fishing – and how he donates shark meat to homeless shelters
MARK “The Shark” Quartiano boasts that he can catch anything that swims – and judging by his monster trophies, he could be right.
The master fisherman has seen bloody maulings and faced down fierce animal rights activists – but says nothing could stop him taking out thrill-seeking tourists.
Mark has been reeling in big-beast sharks from the Miami Bay for 50 years – and claims to have caught more sharks than anyone else alive.
He reckons he’s hauled 100,000 aboard his yacht, Striker-1, over the decades.
People pay to be taken on extreme fishing trips where Mark helps them catch the “fish of their dreams”.
Mark told The Sun that it’s not just midlife-crisis dads who come brave the waves.
He often hosts stag dos and hen parties – and says it’s the girls who have the most fun reeling in whoppers.
Mark says: “The girls go crazy for it – they love the big sharks. They’re allowed to drink onboard Striker-1 – we’re in the party capital of the world after all. As long as no one gets hurt.
“I’m basically on baby-sitting duty the whole time. I always joke around that next year we’ll be doing the divorce party.”
He’s also welcomed the rich and famous aboard his boat – counting the likes of Robert De Niro and Will Smith among his happy customers.
People head to sea with Mark for all sorts of different reasons.
Some want to take home a huge trophy, while others just want to watch the experts tussle a giant hammerhead.
But Mark is the man who makes it all happen. He has decades of experience, top of the range gear and a custom-built boat specialised for shark hunting.
Mark has sparred with a ridiculous number of sharks, but each one presents a different challenge.
He says: “Some sharks bite a lot harder than others. We had a big bull shark just the other day, maybe 500lb, and she was on the line for a couple of hours. She really didn’t wanna come into the boat at all.
“But you have to expect a challenge – these are big sharks battling for their lives, and they have deep water on their side. But we always get ’em in the end.”
One of his most intense showdowns came a few months ago when he spent more than six hours battling a great white.
And the biggest fish he’s ever reeled was 2300lb – which is more than a tonne.
With sharks that big, it’s vital to know what you’re doing.
And even with so many years of experience in the locker, accidents can still happen.
Mark said: “We’ve had a few guests get bitten, usually because they stand too close to the sharks while they’re trying to get a picture.”
The sharks are normally still alive when they join the crew onboard – so are still capable of chomping down.
“We also had one member of the crew get bit pretty bad on the foot,” he said.
To give him the edge over the beasts, Mark has kitted out Striker-1 with cutting-edge shark-wrangling gear.
He says: “My boat is the only one on the seas with the world-famous fighting chair over the water. It’s been my trademark for over 40 years.
“We can hoist any size shark into the boat using all our winches and block and tackles.”
Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/14242220/shark-hunter-reeled-beasts-crew-mauled-mark/