Monster fish seem to be the theme this summer (see this post, and this post), as another fly fisherman has landed another monster … well, in this case, Jaws.
Earlier this month Jeff Patterson went fly fishing off the coast of San Diego in search of a mako shark and hooked up with something even toothier – a great white shark.
In what what might be the first-ever great white caught on a fly, Patterson was chumming with guide Conway Bowman on July 17 about five miles off the coast when the shark surfaced.
Patterson, thinking it was a mako, tempted the shark with a three-inch feather fly, hooking what was believed to be a 6- to 7-foot juvenile in the 150- to 200-pound range.
He reportedly caught the shark with a 15-weight rod, Abel Super 13 reel (it should be noted, that Patterson is a director of sales for Abel) and 550 grain line.
After a lengthy fight, the two used a dehooking unit to unhook the beast without losing a limb (great whites are protected in the state of California, not that they would’ve considered bringing Whitey aboard for a photo opp).
But before releasing the fish, they capture the photo at right.
They also caught video of the whole scene. The fly fishing for great white video is available at YouTube.
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