North Carolina battled tooth and limb and risked their lives to save a beached great white shark after catching the fish in the Outer Banks. The shark weighed a whopping 1,400 to 1,800 pounds and was fierce.
North Carolina fisherman Luke Beard said that he and his friend Jason Rosenfeld and several others caught the great white at Frisco on Hatteras Island.
"There have been a few great whites caught in North Carolina. None of them have been as big as that one," Beard told WRAL. "We were going out to catch something big, that's what we do, that's our passion."
The North Carolina fisherman said that he knew it wasn't an ordinary fish when they shark bit.
Great White Shark Saved
"I set hook on the fish and it just felt different," he said. After pulling the shark to shore, the North Carolina fishermen worked to remove the great white from the beach and push it back to the water. They worked to get the rope off the shark.
Fortunately, they managed to push it out to sea where it swam away safely to stalk another victim. "I was about in tears when we released that fish because you never know if you're going to be able to do that in your lifetime," Beard said to Fox 19.
"It gives me chills even thinking about it. It was unbelievable," Rosenfeld also said.
Meanwhile, Beard shared his encounter with the great white shark on social media.
He wrote, "I've been dreaming of this day for most of my life! Jason Rosenfeld and I have been working on getting this done for a long time. We picked the day and made the first drop with the new rod we just built for this exact purpose."
He also added, "We have been learning from each other for last four years, and now we have shaped the future land based fishing! Our two brains together is a dangerous thing."
The fishermen said the most important thing was ensuring that no harm befell the great white shark.
"The biggest priority is keeping the fish safe and getting a good release on all fish that we catch," Rosenfeld told Fox 19.
Beard also added, "There's no delay. It's such a small window of time and you have to be super accurate with what you are doing."
