Great White Shark Snagged in Panhandle Waters

When it comes to fish tales, Derrick Keeny, Kyle Register and Gabriel Smeby have a whopper to tell.

The three men reeled in a great white shark while angling off the coast of Panama City Beach Sunday evening.

While it’s not out of the question for anglers to snag an occasional great white elsewhere, in the Panhandle’s Gulf of Mexico waters it’s practically unheard of. The men’s great white catch is the first-ever documented, according to the Pensacola News Journal.

“Amazing to finally see one in person,” the three wrote on Dark Side Sharkers’ Facebook page following their big haul. It seems the two are members of the group that supports “CPR and the legal harvest of apex predators,” according to its Facebook page.

CPR, by the way, stands for catch, photograph and release, which is exactly what Keeny, Register and Smeby did with the near 10-footer they bagged Sunday night.

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“We are into conservation,” Smeby explained to the News Journal. “We pride ourselves in quick release.”

Dark Siders are known for tagging the prey they catch to help the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration collect research data.

While the men’s catch and release is a rarity in Gulf waters, great whites aren’t entirely unheard of in the region. In January, a great white attacked Capt. Scott Fitzgerald’s fishing boat about 8 miles out into the Gulf from Panama City Beach.

“Never seen anything like it,” Fitzgerald, of Madfish Charters, wrote on his company’s Facebook page following the run in.

Great whites are normally found in “cool, coastal waters throughout the world,” National Geographic reports. The creatures are considered the largest predatory fish on the planet and can grow to an average of 15 feet in length.

Sunday’s catch measured 9 feet, 8 ½ inches.

Photos from the Dark Side Sharkers Facebook Page

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