The 13 year old Dunedin boy on Saturday set what may be a New Zealand junior record after hauling in a 49.8kg blue shark while fishing from a 5.7m runabout about 5km off Taiaroa Head.
What made the feat even more impressive was the lightweight 6kg line Jack used to land the monster.
Jack and father Mike Todd were among members of the Tautuku Fishing Club Dunedin and Haast Inc taking part in the New Zealand Sports Fishing Council's national fishing competition at the weekend.
Jack said he took about 20 minutes to reel in the shark, which was ''quite big'' and did not come without a fight.
He had been fishing ''pretty much all my life'' and had caught other sharks, but it was his biggest catch to date.
''It was a big fish on a light line . . . It's not an easy shark to catch,'' Mr Todd said.
The catch was being assessed, and could result in Jack claiming a New Zealand junior record, Tautuku club president and New Zealand Sport Fishing Council delegate Brett Bensemann said.
''It's a thrill for the family, a thrill for research and great for a young angler.''
About 35 sharks caught by Tautuku Fishing Club members were tagged and released, and those that were not would be given to the University of Otago for research or educational purposes, he said.
