A Canadian tourist was pretty excited to go on a fishing trip in the Gulf, but he didn't know he would catch an 18-foot great white shark during his adventure.
Fab Marchese has a pretty impressive story to tell after he struggled to reel in the giant shark.
"Just the vision of seeing that head," Marchese told Fox. "Like, it was massive! That's what I'm going to remember the most."
Captain Joe Maisano with Go Fast Fishing Charters in Treasure Island took Marchese on the trip and even he was impressed.
"Just like the movies, it was the fish from the movie," said Maisano."Only a couple species of sharks get that big. Great hammerheads, tiger sharks, and the great whites are the only three that will get up there that big."
The men were about 30 miles off shore when Marchese made the big catch.
"About four hours into the fishing trip and then big mama showed-up and wanted to play," Maisano said. The shark grabbed right onto the bait on a large steel hook.
Marchese got a good workout while trying to catch the shark. He fought the 3,000 pound animal for almost three and a half hours without taking a break.
"Just hold on, yeah hold on and fight. I wanted to see it right up close. I'm hanging on to this thing no matter what," said Marchese.
The large animal was more than half the size of their boat.
Despite fighting for so long, Marchese let go of the shark after catching it. Great whites are a protective species.
He had a hard time convincing his kids, Marisa and Nadia, that he really caught the animal.
"I didn't really believe it, and when I came with him for the interview I believed him," 8-year-old Marisa told Fox.
"You think they'll believe you? No," said 7-year-old daughter Nadia.
"Yeah, this is like a dream come true basically," said Marchese. "You never think something like this is going to happen. It's just like, how am I going to top this now?"
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
