Zaldivar said he was fishing from his floating dock off 104th Street in Miami Shores, Florida, on Monday, at about 9 p.m., when his rod caught “something big.”
According to WSVN, his children, who had been fishing in the canal, had told him their lines were breaking and he had wondered why. He said he had tried to find out whether there was a large fish could be lurking in the canal by throwing leftover bait from a previous fishing trip.
He decided to try his luck after he became convinced there was a large fish in the water.
“It’s exhilarating. Being a recreational fisherman, but a very passionate one my whole life, there’s few things that [have] given me a bigger rush,” he said.
He told CBS4’s Lauren Pastrana, “Probably 45 minutes to an hour later I got a strike and started to peel off a lot of line so I knew it was something big.”
After trying unsuccessfully to reel in the fish, he called his brother-in-law over to help, and after about 35 minutes of struggling, they were able to haul the fish onto the floating dock.
Zaldivar filmed the shark and snapped photos before returning it to the water.
“[It was about] about 5 to 6 feet long [and] probably between 125 to 200 lbs. He fought a really good fight. We brought him up long the side here, snapped some pictures, and took some videos. He still had a fair amount of fight in him, so as I’m putting my hand into him, he’s reaching over and trying to snap at my hand.”
Although he believes the shark was a bull shark, this has not been confirmed independently. CBS Miami reports that he sent photos and videos to Florida Sportsman to confirm that he had indeed caught a bull shark.
“I’m pretty sure it was a bull shark. We got up to him, we took pictures of him. Bull sharks tend to come into very shallow water,” he said.
He told WSVN that he never expected to catch a shark in his backyard.
“I thought I’d catch a jack, a tarp, something along those lines. I didn’t expect anything of that nature or certainly not one that big.”
The canal that passes behind his home leads to the Biscayne Bay which opens to the Atlantic Ocean.
Zaldivar said that despite many years of experience as a recreational fisherman, Monday night’s catch was special.
“By far the largest thing I’ve ever caught off land and certainly off a dock and certainly off of my backyard.”
He and his young sons often play in the canal, kayaking or working on their family boat. However, after the close encounter with a shark, they won’t be swimming in the water for a long time, he said.
But experts said it wouldn’t be surprising if it was indeed a bull shark because bull sharks are often found in shallow brackish and freshwater. They often swim far inland up rivers and tributaries where they lurk for long periods in areas with high human population.
Following sightings of sharks in the canal in November, and a viral video showing a 9-foot shark in the backyard canal of a home in Bonita Springs last month, marine experts issued repeated look out warnings to people living near Florida canals.
The tendency of bull sharks to swim up rivers in areas of human population makes them a threat to people. Experts consider then them, along with great whites and tiger sharks, the most dangerous to humans.
