Some lady in South Carolina had her hands full after a bad experience with a broken rod left her with a fist full of shark.
Making the story even more wild, the spinner shark she caught by hand is also the new state record.
Nikki Colwell, of Inman, South Carolina, is a High School teacher who has hit the water with her dad on many, many occasions over the course of her life. This fish story is something she’ll surely remember forever though.
According to The State, the days planned fishing excursion was temporarily derailed by choppy waters. Then their boat anchor got stuck on something, so instead of heading back to the harbor the crew decided to relax on the boat until the tides changed. To pass the time they decided to throw a few lines in the water.
Miss Colwell was snacking on a Uncrustable PB&J sandwich when the toothy fish took a liking to her bait. Not sure if she was enjoying a grape or strawberry Uncrustable, but they’re both delicious. She enjoyed the snack so much that she even let the shark run with the line for a bit so she could finish her sandwich.
After battling the shark for a little bit, she finally laid it up beside the boat so her dad could attempt to stick a gaff in it to pull it aboard.
That’s when the shark went into a frenzy and ultimately snapped the fishing rod. She said it was the first time she’d ever snapped a fishing rod so the only thing left to do in that moment was to just start pulling by hand.
“When they finally got the spinner shark on board and secured, we were pretty worn out, hands were trashed from hand-lining, and gaffing and tying the ropes off and everything as the shark was going crazy.
I was ready to sit down for a second and celebrate.”
Being an experience sea man, her dad knew that the state record for spinner sharks was 171-pounds and he knew his daughter’s catch was right up there with that. After taking a few preliminary measurements they threw the shark on ice and high tailed it for a Marina in nearby Charleston, South Carolina.
The shark weighed in at 173 pounds and 5 ounces, a new state record, which was just officially certified by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.
Congratulations Nikki, you are the new casting queen of South Cackalacky.
