Sunday, at about 5 a.m., the big tiger shark struck and was hooked while pulling on the bait, a whole Bonito fish.

 Captains Keith Andrews and Aaron Andrews and Mate Jimmy Sprayberry had been out in the Gulf off Pensacola all night because these predators roam and feed at night generally. They knew from the strike that they had hooked on to something big, but at first didn’t know exactly what. They hoped it would be an entry into the Outcast Mega Shark Tournament to benefit the Cerebral Palsy Foundation of Northwest  Florida. Their strike turned out to be the biggest of the Tournament — 576.6 pounds.

  The Islander caught up with the catchers of “Jaws” on Monday afternoon July 30 after they had moved from Palafox Pier in Pensacola back to home base at Sanroc Cay Marina in their 42-foot Hatteras named The Player.

  In Pensacola the tiger shark had already been inspected by the Gulf Coast Research Lab out of Ocean Springs, Miss., to learn more about sharks and about this big one in particular. They checked for mercury and other contents the big one might have had.

  After the inspection the shark was processed and the meat was sent to the Northwest Florida Zoo to augment the diet for live animals. Nothing would be wasted.

  Keith Andrews, father of angler Aaron Andrews, said sorrowfully that they tried to save the tiger, but that the shark had fought Aaron for three and a half hours and died on the trip back. He had to be towed because the equipment on the boat couldn’t pull him up and over.

 The elder Andrews said, “Normally we’re able to tag and release 99 percent of our catches, but it just didn’t happen in this instance. At least the harvest allowed the Research Institute to check the shark and the zoo benefitted from the meat.”

  Aaron, 23, is a sturdy fellow with strong arms and shoulders, and he needed all his savvy and strength to bring the shark in.

 “The tiger would respond to being reeled in, but as soon as he saw the boat he was gone again with the reel whirring,” Aaron said. Also the anchor had to be hoisted so that Captain Keith and mate Jimmy Sprayberry could back away when the shark tried to go under the boat threatening, the 130-pound braided test line. Then he was back to the open water, trying to spit out the hook.

  Aaron “hung in there” literally in his stand-up harness, and told The Islander that “It was just a question of who would last longer, and luckily we did.”

  Both Andrews made it clear that this is not a sport for amateurs: it is too dangerous. The merits are information for the sciences, the public and charitable deeds for the less fortunate. The anglers next year will have a big record to beat.