A two-man fishing crew in Hilton Head had quite the day on the water on Monday. Within five minutes, they had two great white sharks on their lines.
Charter Captain Chip Michalove with Outcast Sport Fishing was out with a buddy a few miles off Hilton Head when they got a 10-foot great white on the line.
“We fought (the shark) for a few minutes and then it spit the hook,” says Michalove. “I was so disappointed and ready to quit.”
Luckily for them both, they kept fishing. A few minutes later, they had a huge 16-foot, 3,000-pound great white taking the bite on their line. Michalove actually had to radio for help from a nearby fisherman and his daughter because the shark was so big.
“I couldn’t believe it, it was like the two sharks were traveling close to each other,” Michalove said. “I’ve hooked multiple in one day before, but they’re usually hours apart.”
“She just pulled up aside the boat and wanted to keep swimming. This one was just massive. She was so big my skeleton crew had to call for help.”
Known as the Great White Shark Whisperer, Michalove has hooked an incredible 26 sharks since his first in 2015.
A particularly cold winter has lead to lower great white activity along the East Coast, which normally sees high numbers.
“The cold snap and January’s snow put a lot of pressure on the fish,” Michalove said. “It really hurt the inshore species and pushed the migratory species to the Gulf Stream.”
He’s happy to have had such a massive catch after a very slow winter. He tagged the shark on its fin, ensuring he put as little stress on the animal as possible during the ordeal.
“It was my first time out there in three weeks, it was great to get two on the line.”
Michalove is teamed up with scientists at the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy in Chatham, Mass., where he studies great white shark’s movement patterns
