Fishermen snag great white shark near Alcatraz Island: 'It was like winning the lottery'
FOX NEWS - A California fisherman with decades of experience tells Fox News he was not prepared to reel in a great white shark during a recent trip near Alcatraz Island.
Captain Joey Gamez, of Golden State Sportfishing, had taken a group of anglers out on the San Francisco Bay on Saturday morning expecting to catch mostly soupfin and seven-gill sharks.
"The seven-gill sharks that we catch bite just like this one did, so we thought we had a monster seven-gill shark," Gamez told Fox News.
But in footage shared to Golden State Sportfishing's Facebook account later that day, the fishermen can be seen struggling to reel in the catch, and even taking turns, as the shark dragged the men across the San Francisco Bay.
"It dragged [the boat] around, actually for two miles exactly," Gamez said. "It pulled us with the current for two miles, then we hovered over it for 20 minutes or so."
"I just gave it all I had, just tried to bring her to the surface," he added.
And ultimately, it was Gamez holding the rod when the fish surfaced alongside the boat, leaving everyone aboard absolutely shocked.
"I was not prepared to see that," he said of the shark, which his deckhand identified as a great white. "I was in awe, super surprised -- it was like winning the lottery."
In accordance with California regulations, the fishermen freed the shark as soon as they realized what they had, though not before capturing their phenomenal catch on camera.
"We've caught some big ones, but that had to be my biggest," Gamez told Fox News.