By ,
Published December 01, 2015
A stunned fisherman has reeled in a Great White shark from the shore of the Florida panhandle.
"I'm still blown away by it. Lost for words," Derrick Keeny told MyFoxTampaBay after reeling in 'the big one' at Panama City Beach Sunday.
Keeny was shark fishing from the shore of the Gulf of Mexico when he made fishing history.
He never expected to snag a Great White, let alone from the shoreline.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it was the first time a fisherman has caught a Great White from the Gulf while standing on dry land.
Keeny had the shark tagged and released.
"I put hooks in the fish, and when I put hooks in the fish, it started tearing line off the reel," he said.
He called out for help from his friends, including Gabriel Smeby, to get the giant carnivorous fish to shore.
"We were up and down, over and around on sandbars," Smeby said of the nearly hour-long effort.
"It turned sideways in the surf, and it dawned on me what it was," he added, "It was a Great White."
Smeby called the ordeal to land the fish "controlled chaos", but noted the men's catch seemed an "extremely tame shark."
https://www.foxnews.com/us/controlled-chaos-fisherman-reels-in-great-white-shark-from-florida-beach