Anglers reel in 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off coast of Florida: 'She found my bait'

A group of anglers in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., caught what's believed to be a tiger shark measuring more than 3.5 metres in length. 

Owen Prior, one of the anglers who made the big catch, told U.S. media, "One of my friends heard the reel going and they were like, 'Yo Owen, you're on.'"

The shark was hooked about 365 metres out from the shoreline at the Jacksonville Pier. It took them roughly 20 minutes to reel in the monster fish. "Every step closer I took she got bigger," Prior said. “You come across sharks like that, not often, but they're out there." 

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According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, tiger sharks are classified as a prohibited species, which means you cannot specifically target them, but anglers are allowed to catch and release them.

"We weren't targeting that shark, it just happened to eat the bait," Prior said. "It's the same bait for every shark, you never know what it's going to eat."

Prior added that, "technically you're not allowed to take a photo with it. I don't necessarily regret it, however that experience and photo I'll remember forever. That's something I'll tell my grandchildren one day, I definitely got caught up in the moment a little bit."