A spear fisherman looking for lobster near South Carlsbad State Beach got a bit of a shock Friday morning — and hauled in a much larger catch — after a seven-foot gill shark bumped his kayak.
“It swam right under me,” said Benny Stowe, who fishes regularly near the beach.
Stowe said he quickly grabbed his spear gun and shot the shark in the head.
The shark was stunned but still thrashing around, Stowe said.
“He was fighting, not too much, but he was fighting,” he said.
Stowe lashed the shark to his kayak and headed for shore, where he dragged the shark onto the beach and finished it off.
Surfer Richard Fox of Carlsbad was watching from the beach as Stowe paddle ashore.
“I helped him pull it up on the beach. He could barely pick up the head, it was so heavy,” Fox said. “This is the biggest I’ve ever seen caught.”
With the help of a lifeguard truck, Stowe and other beachgoers hauled the fish to Stowe’s truck.
“It was extremely heavy, hard to get ahold of,” said Justin Birks of Carlsbad.
Birks said he’s been spear fishing off the beach for years, but Stowe’s catch surprised him.
“I’ve never seen a shark that big, not even close,” Birks said.
Gill sharks, also known as cow sharks, are fairly common up and down the California coast, according to the Monterey Aquarium website.
They can grow to 10 feet long and typically feed on a wide range of sea life, from octopuses to sea turtles, but not people.
After loading the shark into his truck, Stowe was eager to have it cleaned.
Asked what he’d do with is catch, Stowe grinned and said “eat it.”
In late July, four fisherman on a charter boat off the coast of North County caught a 10-foot mako shark and hauled it into the Oceanside Harbor, where it far exceeded the harbor’s 600-pound scale.
I’ve never seen a shark that big.” Justin Birks • Carlsbad
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