Pensacola News Journal – Two hours into the very first saltwater fishing trip of their lives March 3, seven friends from Idaho caught a great white shark on Pensacola Beach.
That’s a wildly high bar to set for future fishing trips, and the Pensacola charter captain who made the catch possible let them know as much.
“I told them, ‘I’ve been doing this for five years and you guys just caught a great white about an hour and a half into the trip,'” said John McLean, the charter captain of his own Big John Shark Fishing Adventures company. “You may never see this again.”
McLean, a retired former goalie for the Pensacola Ice Flyers, runs six-hour, eight-hour and all-night charters in which he guides groups of people on private shark fishing trips.
This particular trip March 3 just happened to net one of the most astounding catch-and-release experiences of McLean’s life.
A screen grab courtesy of a video made by Pensacola charter captain John McLean shows the great white shark McLean and a group of seven Idaho natives caught and released on March 3 on Pensacola Beach.
“I would say it’s an 80% chance that you’ll catch (a shark) on one of my trips, but it’s fishing so you never know,” McLean said.
“The coolest part with it for me is, you never know what’s going to be on the other end of the line. So this was just so unique and obviously a catch of a lifetime.”
McLean said the adrenaline was flowing during the 40-minute fight, which occurred about 100 yards offshore.
He said he dropped three baits that night, all past the second sandbar on the beach.
The bait that landed the great white was a 16-inch Bonita fish purchased from Gulf Breeze Bait and Tackle …
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