Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. Unless, of course, you’re these people. No single fishing trip is ever the same.
We are here on the Blind Side will go From a great white that needed a fish more than the fisherman, to a humpback whale that interrupts a diving trip, here are 15 most surprising fishing moments you will ever see.
Hungry Hungry Piranhas
There’s something genuinely devastating about spending a lot of hard work and effort reeling in a fish, and then your line snaps or the fish gets away. You then have to spend even longer trying to get that second catch, but always wondering how large that first one might have been.
That’s pretty sad, but what if a hoard of hungry, vicious piranhas stole your prized catch instead? That’s what happened to one dejected fisherman who was out fishing on a still body of water with his friend.
They were on board a boat when the second fisherman decided to film the first reeling in what looked to be a hefty fish. As he pulled his line closer to the boat, the pair became aware of something else latching on. But it wasn’t just one fish, it was several, and they wanted what the fisherman had.
You can see in the footage a lot of movement around the catch, but it’s not the caught fish that’s causing all the ruckus. By the time the man pulls the fish up, it’s a mere head. The body is ravaged by a school of hungry, freeloading piranhas that were too lazy to catch their own dinner.
Surprising Fishing Moment
We see some pretty crazy stuff caught in the ocean, but we rarely see photos of things playing out as they happen! This time, we’ve got the goods. A father and son were out fishing on the coastline of a popular beach when something massive caught their line. And it was furious. Once it was close to the water’s edge, it wanted to make the boy and his dad its dinner. To this day, they are unsure what that fish was, but they managed to get away unharmed. What do you think that fish is?
Shark Takes Fish from Boy
You may have been within an inch of securing your dinner and being made a fuss of by your family, but would you fight a Great White Shark for a fish? Probably not.
A family had been fishing in Cape Cod Bay on a fishing boat when Jack Nelson, a young boy, had a fish hook onto his line. He excitedly reeled the catch in while his family proudly filmed the whole event. His dad, Doug Nelson, was behind the camera.
But instead of patting their son on the back when he brought the fish onto the deck, the fish never made it that far. Instead, a Great White Shark breached the water’s surface and took the fish before he could bring it aboard the boat. The shark was within mere inches of ending up on the family’s boat, and everyone looks on astounded. Fortunately, the moment was caught on camera for everyone to see.
13. Great White Shark Takes Man’s Fish
It’s part of New Zealand’s culture to head out on the boat for a day’s fishing. After all, the entire country is surrounded by water. But not everyone has this experience while out fishing.
A boat with at least three New Zealanders was out in the Bay of Islands for a day’s fishing when they got more than they bargained for. One man was working hard to bring in a fish, which was large enough to bend his sea fishing rod nearly in half.
But as he started to bring the fish closer to the water’s surface, he noticed that only the head remained. The rest of the fish had been eaten by something.
What that “something” was became apparent within seconds. A Great White Shark breached the water’s surface and took off with the rest of the fish, leaving the man with nothing.
While the man would undoubtedly have to start his fishing process again, he’ll have a pretty unbelievable story to tell his friends and family when he returns home.
Sea Bass Eats Shark
In 2014, a group of people out for a casual fish off the coast of Bonita Springs in Florida got the fright of their life, and this time, it wasn’t a shark that was to blame.
They had caught a blacktip shark on their line, which was of quite a large size – around four feet approximately. They then began to try and bring it in while the shark swam around in the water. As they pulled in the line with the shark attached, the shark didn’t even get a chance to fight. A Goliath Grouper swoops in out of nowhere and swallows the shark in one bite before taking off again.
Atlantic goliath groupers are common in tropical waters, especially shallow water near coral and artificial reefs. They are most commonly found at depths of around 15 – 170 feet. Given the size of the shark, you would have to assume this creature grows pretty big, and you would be right. They can weigh as much as 790 pounds and at lengths of around eight feet.
You would be pretty brave to take on a blacktip shark, let alone a hungry grouper, so those fishing on the boat would have probably let the grouper have their catch anyway.
Man Gets Huge Shock
Electric eels are a South American electric fish that are a type of knife fish, rather than an eel. They grow to nearly seven feet long and around 44 pounds, and they have a square mouth, but no scales. Perhaps the more intriguing feature of the electric eel is the fact that, well, they are electric.
Their three abdominal organs produce electricity – both high and low voltage. When their prey gets close to them, they can create a current, not all that dissimilar from a battery. They can control their victims with electrical pulses, and can even affect their nervous system to put them into a state of paralysis.
Now that you know how an electric eel functions, you can see it all play out for yourself! A man gets the “shock” of his life when out trying to capture an electric eel. He tries to collect it with his bare hands while standing in a t-shirt and shorts in a body of water. He isn’t having much luck, so he grabs a pole to try and bring it to the surface.
All of a sudden, the man makes noises as if he has been shocked, and ends up falling into the water, completely paralyzed and unable to make any sudden movements. Any movements he does make are jilted and likely caused by electricity. The scary part is, the man was mere inches away from smashing his head open on a rock!
Whale Nearly Swallows Diver
Whales are peaceful creatures of the deep, but that doesn’t mean they don’t make errors in judgment. Fortunately for a group of divers, the outcome was a lot better than it could have been. Four men had been diving in Souza Rock on the Central California Coast. Jay Hebrard was filming from aboard the boat.
In the water, you can see two men in their full diving gear, but they aren’t doing much diving at this point.
All of a sudden, small fish flurry to the surface, hitting the face masks of the divers. Something is about to happen, and the divers have an inkling about what that might be. A humpback whale is nearby, and the divers quickly move out of the way before it breaches the surface for its fish dinner.
The humpback whale ends up in the same spot the divers were before, which means they narrowly missed being eaten.
Humpback whales are a type of baleen whale that has a knobbly head and long pectoral fins. They grow to around 52 feet long and weigh up to 33 tons. They are not as friendly around boats as gray whales, but they do try to avoid human contact where possible. This was one of those cases where it very nearly went wrong!
Man Catches More than He Bargained For
Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Well, apparently not. This man got far more than he bargained for when out fishing. He caught a massive fish, only for it to be rudely latched onto by a greedy snake that just wouldn’t let go.
He held onto the snake with a hook, and the snake held onto the fish. Neither man nor snake were ready to let go of their dinner. The man with the camera pans from the fish and snake combo to his face, which is less than impressed.
No matter what he did, he couldn’t seem to make the snake let go. In the end, he has to cut the fish from the snake to enjoy the fish dinner he had worked so hard to get.
8. Black Bear Takes the Catch
In life, you have to know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em, and we’re pretty sure these fishermen made the right choice. A curious black bear wandered into the fishing area of men who had been fishing at the water’s edge.
Their tackle boxes, rods, and water bottles were laid out neatly when the bear started to approach them. It first sniffed at one man’s water bottle before curiously navigating its way to the tackle box. Seeing nothing delicious, it wandered off.
The men made a wise choice, upon seeing the bear, to move to a safe distance – while still filming. Black bears are a medium-sized bear that lives in many parts of North America. They mainly frequent forested areas but tend to wander into human communities because food is quite often available. In this case, it wasn’t.
American black bears can weigh up to 550 pounds, but females tend to be smaller. They have a keen sense of smell, which is thought to be around seven times greater than that of a dog. Fortunately for these fishermen, they are also far less aggressive than grizzly bears.
They rarely attack humans when confronted, and usually, only let out a “mock charge.” This is when they swat the grounds with their paws and blow air out their noses. If there are any attacks, they are usually around campgrounds and national parks where they choose to frequent for quick and easy food sources.
7. Bull Shark Flips Over Kayaker
Florida angler and Captain Ben Chancey operates a fishing charter company called Chew on This. He regularly goes fishing in the ocean, and often with the idea of shooting footage for his YouTube channel fishing show.
While someone films from the fishing boat, Ben is in his sea kayak with a rod containing bait. A grouper hooks onto his line, eats the bait, but then spits it back out. That seems like it’s the end of the adventure, but it’s not.
Before Ben knows it, a bull shark eats the bait, fights, and tips Ben out of the kayak. He struggles to get back on top of the overturned kayak. He realizes he is only wearing flipflops, so he abandons his attempt to get on the kayak and frantically swims to the fishing boat.
As the bull shark is still hooked onto the bait, he bravely gets back into the kayak and manages to catch that bull shark after all. Not only does Ben capture some excellent footage of the whole ordeal, but he manages to wrangle a bull shark that could have been a tragic event.
Bull sharks are not known to be the most delightful creatures in the water. They are aggressive and frequent both fresh and saltwater. They can grow up to around eight feet long and 290 pounds, and the male bull sharks are often smaller.
Out of all shark species, bull sharks are one of the more likely to bite humans. They are joined in their aggressive behavior by tiger sharks and great white sharks. There have even been several reports of bull shark attacks around Sydney Harbor inlets, which are typically quite populated.
Ben was extremely fortunate that the one he caught happened to have its mouth preoccupied with bait at the time.
6. Sleeping Fisherman Catches Whale
Whale watching expeditions are a fun way to spend an afternoon, but this group of whale watchers were treated to more entertainment than just whales. A family videoing humpback whales in the water happened to zoom in on a fishing boat with a man taking a snooze on the boat’s bow. He had two sea rods in the water, hoping to catch something while he took a short break.
The sleeping fisherman was missing the entire whale-watching expedition, but he didn’t realize that he was soon going to be a part of it. He woke up to his lines whizzing through the water, and he quickly grabbed onto them, possibly expecting a fish. But as the lines moved faster than he could reel them in, it probably dawned on him that it was a whale caught in his line, not a fish.
The boat then began to be pulled back by the whale, and he ran to start the boat up and follow the line to see if he could get back in control. The man on the boat then becomes the attraction as he is sandwiched between two tour boats of people who were out for whale watching but ended up people watching. The man gains control and probably continued to fish as if nothing happened.
5. 600-pound Fish Jumps in Boat
Black Marlin are high-prized game fish, but that’s if you catch them. In this case, a black marlin was the one doing the catching.
Men fishing off a boat called the Little Audrey were treated to several minutes of drama when a giant black marlin jumped aboard their boat off the coast of Cairns, Australia.
The men were fishing in choppy waters, with water splashing into the boat regularly, causing the men to struggle to continue fishing. They catch a black marlin that fights against them in the water. Next thing they know, it’s flipping aboard their boat, almost taking out one of the fishermen and hauling a deck chair at another. One man goes flying, another gets a hefty whack to the head with a chair, and it’s chaos for what feels like forever.
Fortunately, the men on board the boat only sustain minor injuries, and it could have been a lot worse. Black marlin can grow up to around 15 feet long and over 1,500 pounds. They are not only large but fast. There have been many cases where they have taken off with fishing line at speeds of up to 65 miles per hour. They are fished for in a commercial capacity and are thought to be easier to catch after a full moon.
4. Croc Chases Man’s Fish
Most fishers run towards their catch, but Daniel and his friend had to run away from it – and fast – when faced with an even larger score: a hungry croc.
Daniel and his friend were fishing in a body of water that was frequented by saltwater crocodiles. Daniel had a sizeable barramundi on his line and was having to fight to reel it in. His friend was offering helpful advice, such as to keep the pressure on and run back. But as the fish edged closer to Daniel, a croc decided he wanted it even more.
The crocodile chased the fish while the two men had to run for their lives. The crocodile then swallowed the fish whole, leaving the men nothing to show for their efforts. But it’s probably for the best, for tackling a barramundi is one thing, but taking on a saltwater crocodile is a whole different kettle of… well, fish.
These day-ruining reptiles can grow up to 20 feet long and weigh over 2,000 pounds. They have the strongest bite of any animal, including bite force, and they are more likely to bite humans than any other crocodile species. It might have been a worthwhile fish to fight for, but not when the opponent is a giant croc.
3. Fisherman Catches 1,000-Pound Tiger Shark
A fisherman had headed out for a spot of fishing and had been trying various methods to land the best catch. He started deep dropping – a way of fishing – from the Old Bahama Bay Resort in the Bahamas. He caught a yelloweye snapper then decided to head north to try wahoo fishing.
As the ocean was rough that day, they decided to try fishing in shallow water in a method known as bottom fishing. He hooked a reef shark, which was exciting enough, but the best was yet to come.
Before the man knows it, a tiger shark swims quickly to the boat and devours the reef shark on his line. The tiger shark was 13 feet long and over 1,000 pounds. Catching a reef shark was monumental, but a tiger shark was next level! It was the tiger shark’s lucky day, and the fisherman let it go. The man was also lucky not to be devoured himself, for tiger sharks are one of three main shark species that are more likely to attack humans than any other.
2. Fish Jumps in, Man Jumps Out
Three men were fishing near Alaska when they managed to secure a marlin on their line. One man sits in a chair in the center, while another moves side to side at the front to try and get the fish under control.
But there’s no controlling a speedy marlin, and certainly not this one. After two or three instances of the fish leaping out of the water, it then jumps into the boat, narrowly avoiding impaling one of the fishermen. One moves out of the way, but another chooses to abandon ship in an attempt to avoid being stabbed by the fish. He was very much at risk of being hit by the prop as well.
Marlin can move at some lightning-fast speeds, even when they are on a line. These men were lucky not to sustain serious injuries.
1. Bull Shark Attacks Fishermen
Out of all fish species, bull sharks are the most ferocious and aggressive. They do not take kindly to anything standing in their way – even if they are much larger than they are. So when kayak fishers off Key West in Florida accidentally caught one on their line, they probably were half-expecting it to fight back, and it did.
The bull shark launches itself from the depths of the water and rams the kayak. One man almost falls out. It then comes back for seconds, ramming both kayaks to unsteady both occupants. True to its name of ‘bull,’ it rams the kayaks several more times until it frees itself from their line and swims away.
The men don’t appear scared in the footage, but they should be. Bull sharks have been responsible for over 100 reported attacks, and over two dozen of these were unprovoked and fatal. Attacks in 1916 on a New Jersey Coast were thought to be the inspiration behind the film jaws, even though larger Great White Sharks were used in the movies.
Bull sharks are also thought to be more dangerous than other shark species because they tend to come into contact with humans more than others. They live in both freshwater and saltwater and bodies of water that are shallow enough for humans to enjoy. As they are territorial of where they live, they have no qualms about attacking anyone that comes within a short distance of their home.
Tiger sharks and great white sharks are often blamed for many shark attacks, but bull sharks may actually be responsible for more of them than other shark species. These men clearly got off lightly and didn’t even know it.