HILTON HEAD, SC – A Hilton Head charter boat captain is getting a lot of attention after posting pictures of a 2500 pound Great White Shark caught off Hilton Head Island this week. Here’s Captain Chip Michalove’s post from his Outcast SPort Fishing Facebook page:
“2,500lb Great White Shark caught and tagged and released, off Hilton Head tonight. This is our 5th white shark hook up of the winter, and 3rd one landed. Troy Bowman, from Bulls Gap, TN. had no idea what he was up against this afternoon. We started off catching a few bull redfish, then we hooked into this big lady at 2:50pm. We weren’t exactly sure how big she was, initially, but after a 2 minute blistering run, she jumped completely out of the water, I wish I had a shot of that. After an insane battle, we ended up getting her boat side at about 7pm to apply an acoustic tag near the dorsal and take DNA sample from her pec fin. She swam off healthy and looking forward to finding out where our South Carolina great whites go. Big thanks to John Brackett, who took the time to come see us and take a few pictures in the pitch black night. More pics to come, all 874 of them!
Last January I had my first great white experience, never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that we’re getting to the point where we see one almost every trip out. It took me nearly 12 years to try and figure out the migration, food source and patterns of this amazing animal. Then the trial and error process began on how to stop, and land these fish. Lots of errors, lots of heartbreaking mistakes along the way were made….this is, unequivocally, the most intelligent fish I’ve ever seen. As an old great white fisherman once told me, “you’re going to hook less than half of the whites you see, they’re that smart”. He was right, and the more we study, the more we learn. Nothing illegal was done, and the shark is now going to give us lots of data…so no hate mail. Life is good! -Capt. Chip Michalove”