NANTUCKET, Mass. (WHDH) — For Elliot Sudal, there’s no better day at the beach than one that ends with him wrestling a shark.
“It’s kinda wild. If the wave flops the shark weird then it hits you. Then it can turn, bite your foot off. The shark is angry, it’s getting pulled out of water. I’d get angry too,” said Sudal.
The Nantucket man was only out for bluefish when he managed to get something much bigger.
“I was reeling them in and all of a sudden a shark came over and bit one in half,” said Sudal.
Consider it lucky for a guy who happens to love shark fishing. He used the bluefish as bait and just ten feet from the shore in Sconset, he managed to hook a seven foot sandbar shark.
“You gotta set the hook. I leaned back and set it. The shark was on. He jumped out of water then he took off and pulled about 150 yards of line,” said Sudal.
The battle between man and shark went on with Sudal holding the line for 45 minutes. Then he got it close enough to get in the ocean and grab it.
“I ran in the water. You gotta grab it by the tail, you gotta grab them and drag them in,” he said.
One Sudal fished the shark out of the water, he took time to take a few photos before setting it free.
“Everyone was like, ‘this guy is crazy running into the water.’ A lot of people were surprised it was so close to shore,” said Sudal.