Updated on: April 21, 2026
A Massachusetts family’s fishing trip off Fort Lauderdale turned into the catch of a lifetime Monday when they reeled in a 10-foot great white shark about a mile offshore.
The group was aboard a charter with Fishing Headquarters when the massive shark took the line, sparking a lengthy and exhausting fight.
“I got in the chair first and it tuckered me out so my dad had to come in and I finished it out,” said Donovan Smith, who was visiting South Florida from Reading, Massachusetts. “My arms are super tired. It was a crazy fight, probably the craziest moment I’ve ever had.”