Florida is home to some of the best fishing in the country.
Even an experienced angler can still be surprised by what is lurking in the water.
And a Florida fisherman got the shock of a lifetime when he reeled in this scary catch.
Florida fisherman lands a great white shark while fishing on the beach
The great white shark picked up the reputation as one of the most feared predators in the ocean.
A Florida fisherman managed to reel one in while fishing on a beach near Jacksonville, Florida.
Alberto Vanegas runs the Land Based Shark Fishing Amelia Island where he helps customers catch sharks while fishing from the beach.
He called it a “normal Tuesday” in Amelia Island, Florida.
Vanegas used a blackfin tuna head as bait about 400 yards off the beach when he got a bite.
“There’s something jumping out there,” Vanegas said during a video of his catch.
He knew he landed something big by the way his reel took off.
“The size of the tuna head, I was like there’s no way that’s a Black Tip, but in my mind, I wasn’t thinking a Great White,” Vanegas recalled.
Vanegas battled for about a half hour to reel the shark in.
He hauled in a great white shark that was about 9 to 10 feet.
“As soon as it came on shore, the first thing I was thinking is, ‘How fast can we get it back in the water?’ With it being a protected species, that’s what you want to do,” Vanegas explained.
@ameliaislandlbsf https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/local/fish-of-a-lifetime-man-catches-great-white-shark-on-fernandina-beach/77-cd1e40f7-7360-4f37-a8a2-0b7c06da5dc1 Catch of a Lifetime! #greatwhiteshark #ameliaisland #lbsf #lbsfguides #landbasedsharkfishing #sharkfishing #sharkfishingcharters #ameliaislandflorida #jaws #firstcoastnews ♬ original sound – AmeliaIslandLBSF
Vanegas had been hoping to land a bull shark when he got lucky and landed a great white.
Historic catch for Florida fisherman
Vanegas quickly cut the shark free and released it back into the Atlantic Ocean because of federal and state laws protecting great whites.
“Yesterday was simply unforgettable,” Vanegas said. “What started as a normal Tuesday, fishing at my favorite spot on Amelia Island, turned into a monumental catch for myself and for land-based shark fishermen.”
He thought that it could be the first great white shark ever caught from a beach on the east coast of Florida.
“Thank you for all of the love and support,” Vanegas said on social media after his catch. “I am so excited and will continue to honor land-based shark fishing and conservation of these magnificent animals.”
OCEARCH is a non-profit that tracks sharks in the ocean for research purposes.
“I salute the fisherman for quick catch and release,” OCEARCH senior science advisor Dr. Bob Hueter told Action News Jax.
The great white that Vanegas caught was not one of the ones that his group had a tracker on.
“We have tagged 92 White Sharks so far in our studies in this part of the world and the fact that this was an untagged one just shows you there are many of these animals out there. We’ve probably barely scratched the surface,” Hueter said.
Hueter thought that was a sign that great white shark populations were healthier than scientists realized.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this story.
