Fisherman photographs ‘craziest thing' seen on a fishing pier

USA Today

07-04-2025

Fisherman photographs 'craziest thing' seen on a fishing pier
Editor's note: A version of this post was first published on July 9, 2022.
Christopher Cls Smith, who spends a lot of time on the water fishing, as evidenced by his YouTube channel Adventure Bro Fishing, came across an unusual sight, one he'd never seen before.
'That was the craziest thing I've ever seen on a fishing pier,' Smith wrote in a post on Facebook displaying his photo. 'I could not believe my eyes.'
What he saw, and photographed, was an image of a group of fishermen hauling up their catch of the day—a shark.
The scene unfolded at the fishing pier in Port Aransas, Texas, according to MySanAntonio.
Smith, who regularly posts fishing videos on his site (and included a short video of this odd sighting), told MySanAntonio he was concerned about how the fishermen were going to make a safe release of the shark, but they wound up keeping the shark and sharing the meat among the people who watched and helped land the shark.
Smith believed it was a bull or tiger shark, though the species was never confirmed.
From MySanAntonio:
"Texas anglers are allowed to catch one shark per day, with a two-shark possession limit, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife. According to the Coastal Fisheries Division with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, about 40 shark species are swimming around the Texas waters. The most common are the following: Atlantic sharpnose shark, Blacktip shark, Bonnethead shark, bull shark and spinner shark."
Photo courtesy of Christopher Cls Smith.