Watch: Bull Shark Flips Angler's Kayak

Check out the video at the bottom of this story.

A charter fishing trip for goliath grouper took an unusual turn recently when an 8 ½-foot bull shark decided to jump in on the action.

Capt. Ben Chancey of Chew on This Fishing Charters was out in the waters off Stuart when the close encounter occurred. Chancey told Patch he and his clients were fishing for goliath grouper when the fish that had been initially snagged spit out the bait.

Seizing the opportunity for a free meal, a bull shark that had been swimming in the area took the bait and managed to flip the kayak Chancey was in. Chancey made a break for it, managing to swim to the safety of the main support boat and climb aboard untouched by the hungry shark.

It’s what came next, however, that makes this fish tale so unusual. Rather than call it a day, Chancey hopped back onto his kayak and managed to reel in that bull shark before all was said and done.

The critter, he said, was about 8 ½ feet long.

“He was a big one,” Chancey said Friday while out on the water yet again with another charter.

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While Chancey came home that day with one whopper of a fish tale – and a now-viral video to prove it – the story also ended happy for the shark.

“We just released it,” he said.

Chew on This Fishing Charters is Chancey’s baby. The company operates out of Stuart and offers excursions for tarpon, goliath grouper, “monster sharks” and more. Its website claims “Capt. Ben specializes in extreme fishing charters.” It would seem his clients from last week can attest that is no boast.

Chancey isn’t the only charter fishing boat captain to have an unusual run-in with a shark as of late. Earlier this year, a captain in the panhandle area found his boat under attack by a great white. No one was injured in that encounter except the boat’s trolling motor.

Shark encounters are fairly common in Florida where the state leads the world in the number of attacks. In 2014, there were 72 reported shark attacks worldwide with 52 in the United States. Twenty-eight of those attacks were recorded in Florida. In the U.S., there were no reported fatalities. Of the other 20 attacks outside the United States, three deaths were reported.

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