FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - It was the catch of a lifetime for a South Florida charter boat captain when he caught a great white shark during a fishing adventure with an out-of-state customer.
Captain J.J. Logan of Marlin My Darlin Sportfishing on Wednesday spoke to 7News about the surprise catch.
“That is the first one I’ve ever seen off this coast here, and it’s the third one, to my knowledge, to be caught off South Florida,” he said.
Logan said the big catch occurred Wednesday morning in Fort Lauderdale.
“We were just out kite fishing for sailfish, mahis. Most of the day was pretty uneventful,” he said.
But in the last hour of Logan and his customer’s fishing adventure, the great white shark swam up to the back of their boat.
They said they immediately knew what it was and got to work.
“It’s pretty unmistakable when there’s something the size of a car back there,” said Logan.
The men got the fishing rod, reeled it up, put the bait on it and sent it out to the water. The shark took the bait and the fish fight extended the charter adventure for hours.
“It’s hard to believe you even hook something that size, and an hour later you still thought you’ve gained and made a dent, and it took us two and a half hours to finally get it up and get some good video and pictures of it and release it,” said Logan.
The shark is a male and is estimated to be 13 feet long and weighs possibly between 1,000 and 1,200 pounds.
Due to federal protection of great white sharks, the crew released him after he was caught.
But for Logan, seeing the shark was enough to make his day.
“It’s pretty much the coolest thing you’ll ever see off the coast here. It’s the rarest fish you’ll ever see in your life, and to catch one in a lifetime is pretty remarkable,” he said.
Logan said that while this happened two miles off the coast, beachgoers don’t have to worry about great white shark encounters because they are deep water creatures.
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