Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

7-gill shark caught off OB Pier – the world's record?

"You could easily fit two basketballs in its mouth”

"He did a death roll and dove down so I thought I lost him.”
"He did a death roll and dove down so I thought I lost him.”

It took Danny Reid nearly four hours to haul in his "shark of a lifetime" early Sunday evening off the Ocean Beach Pier.

“It is a 7-gill shark, the actual measurement of this 7-gill is 9 ½ feet, the girth is about 3 ½ feet, the weight is estimated to be at least 350 pounds,” Reid proudly told me. “It was an epic battle.”

Reid, who is a member of the OB Extreme Shark Fishing Crew, said his crew had left less than 30 minutes prior.

"I sliced my finger open, pulled it up, went chasing him down the pier, swinging the gaff."

“I was alone and was the only shark fisherman on the pier at the time,” he said.

“When I first hooked it, I knew it was a shark because I’d seen it as it was eating the bait, right below the pier, floating in the current on its side, gliding and drifting with the bait just going down its throat…so he’s hooked and starts taking off around the pier and I’m following it, I get close to it and ask a gentleman to bring me my gaff 'cause I need to bring it up, so I try to gaff it, I stick him once and he shakes it off and gets away, he did a death roll and dove down so I thought I lost him.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

About 15 minutes later, Reid re-cast.

“Using the same bait, moray eel, I re-cast and he comes back. It took about an hour or so to get two gaffs in him.”

At this point, a small crowd was helping Reid as word spread fast – dude was catching a shark.

"My family will enjoy barbecued shark for Christmas."

“As we were hauling him up he got stuck half way up, its weight broke one of the gaffs, bent both of the hooks, broke the barbs…. the second gaff he just ripped off, broke the main line, belly flopped and was floating off in the current…. I had to get all my leaders cut off my gaff, sliced my finger open, pulled it up, went chasing him down the pier, swinging the gaff, finally got close enough, had a group of people following me as I was following it, I kept saying bring my rope, bring my rope, I need more drag, more rope, finally got him close enough to stick him good, used another gaff, and knowing it didn’t work the first time and he might fall off again, we used the rope to lasso its tail. Once we lassoed his tail we were confident we could bring him up. Took nine of us and about thirty pulls to heave him up, almost breaking the (pier) railing in the process.

It's taken me years to catch this one, I would have released it but it's so big, I’m so tired and I’m like so full of adrenaline, I don’t really know what to do, throw it back or just keep it.”

He kept it.

“We were thinking maybe the pier café would want it, they could stuff it and put it on display,” he added while staring at the shark. “But yeah, we’re going to eat it, my family will enjoy barbecued shark for Christmas that's for sure."

Reid has several videos of the catch on his Instagram feed:

According to multiple Internet sources, the maximum published length of the 7-gill shark is 9.8 feet in length and the maximum reported weight is 236 pounds as of 2017.

If Reid’s weight estimate is correct, it might be the heaviest 7-gill caught from a fishing pier.

Robert, who witnessed the catch, told me, “It was a monster, you could easily fit two basketballs in its mouth.” When asked what he’d estimate its weight as? “Around 400, I lived on a boat this summer around all the fish coming in. This thing was fat!”

According to PierFishing.com previous 7-gills caught from SoCal piers include:

185 Lbs. Santa Monica Pier, 1996 (Source: Santa Monica Pier Bait Shop)

150+ Lbs. — Crystal Pier (San Diego), March 2012 (Source: PFIC)

112 Lbs. — Ocean Beach Pier, May 2006 (Source: PFIC)

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Eating dinner while little kids mock-mosh at Golden Island

“The tot absorbs the punk rock shot with the skill of experience”
Next Article

Tigers In Cairo owes its existence to Craigslist

But it owes its name to a Cure tune and a tattoo
"He did a death roll and dove down so I thought I lost him.”
"He did a death roll and dove down so I thought I lost him.”

It took Danny Reid nearly four hours to haul in his "shark of a lifetime" early Sunday evening off the Ocean Beach Pier.

“It is a 7-gill shark, the actual measurement of this 7-gill is 9 ½ feet, the girth is about 3 ½ feet, the weight is estimated to be at least 350 pounds,” Reid proudly told me. “It was an epic battle.”

Reid, who is a member of the OB Extreme Shark Fishing Crew, said his crew had left less than 30 minutes prior.

"I sliced my finger open, pulled it up, went chasing him down the pier, swinging the gaff."

“I was alone and was the only shark fisherman on the pier at the time,” he said.

“When I first hooked it, I knew it was a shark because I’d seen it as it was eating the bait, right below the pier, floating in the current on its side, gliding and drifting with the bait just going down its throat…so he’s hooked and starts taking off around the pier and I’m following it, I get close to it and ask a gentleman to bring me my gaff 'cause I need to bring it up, so I try to gaff it, I stick him once and he shakes it off and gets away, he did a death roll and dove down so I thought I lost him.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

About 15 minutes later, Reid re-cast.

“Using the same bait, moray eel, I re-cast and he comes back. It took about an hour or so to get two gaffs in him.”

At this point, a small crowd was helping Reid as word spread fast – dude was catching a shark.

"My family will enjoy barbecued shark for Christmas."

“As we were hauling him up he got stuck half way up, its weight broke one of the gaffs, bent both of the hooks, broke the barbs…. the second gaff he just ripped off, broke the main line, belly flopped and was floating off in the current…. I had to get all my leaders cut off my gaff, sliced my finger open, pulled it up, went chasing him down the pier, swinging the gaff, finally got close enough, had a group of people following me as I was following it, I kept saying bring my rope, bring my rope, I need more drag, more rope, finally got him close enough to stick him good, used another gaff, and knowing it didn’t work the first time and he might fall off again, we used the rope to lasso its tail. Once we lassoed his tail we were confident we could bring him up. Took nine of us and about thirty pulls to heave him up, almost breaking the (pier) railing in the process.

It's taken me years to catch this one, I would have released it but it's so big, I’m so tired and I’m like so full of adrenaline, I don’t really know what to do, throw it back or just keep it.”

He kept it.

“We were thinking maybe the pier café would want it, they could stuff it and put it on display,” he added while staring at the shark. “But yeah, we’re going to eat it, my family will enjoy barbecued shark for Christmas that's for sure."

Reid has several videos of the catch on his Instagram feed:

According to multiple Internet sources, the maximum published length of the 7-gill shark is 9.8 feet in length and the maximum reported weight is 236 pounds as of 2017.

If Reid’s weight estimate is correct, it might be the heaviest 7-gill caught from a fishing pier.

Robert, who witnessed the catch, told me, “It was a monster, you could easily fit two basketballs in its mouth.” When asked what he’d estimate its weight as? “Around 400, I lived on a boat this summer around all the fish coming in. This thing was fat!”

According to PierFishing.com previous 7-gills caught from SoCal piers include:

185 Lbs. Santa Monica Pier, 1996 (Source: Santa Monica Pier Bait Shop)

150+ Lbs. — Crystal Pier (San Diego), March 2012 (Source: PFIC)

112 Lbs. — Ocean Beach Pier, May 2006 (Source: PFIC)

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Southern California Asks: 'What Is Vinivia?' Meet the New Creator-First Livestreaming App

Next Article

Live Five: Sitting On Stacy, Matte Blvck, Think X, Hendrix Celebration, Coriander

Alt-ska, dark electro-pop, tributes, and coastal rock in Solana Beach, Little Italy, Pacific Beach
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader