VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Someone fishing near Ponce Inlet on Thursday reeled in an interesting catch — a great white shark, as video on social media shows.
Sudden Strike Offshore Adventures, a company that provides boat services for fishing trips, posted the video of the encounter on its Facebook page.
According to the post, the shark was hooked about 20 miles off the coast of Ponce Inlet.
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Captain Scott Housel told News 6 that he was fishing for grouper and trigger fish with tourists from Nova Scotia.
They were bottom fishing on an artificial reef near Volusia County called “The Rainbow,” which is when they noticed a fish circling.
“One of our customers got the fortune opportunity to catch the fish of a lifetime...” Housel said. “Finally, (the shark) grabbed one of the baits. He basically dragged us for two miles.”
[Click in the media player below to watch the video of the great white shark.]
After they got some pictures and video of the shark, the crew made sure to release it.
“We just locked down the drag, snapped the line,” Housel said. “It went about its day, and our customer caught a fish of a lifetime.”
Housel explained that catches like this one aren’t as rare as some might think.
He said that this is already the seventh he’s seen so far since he began fishing the waters in 1989. In the past, he’s encountered three while diving, and this is the fourth he’s found while fishing.
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