Boy Nearly Hyperventilates After Catching Dream Fish

Have you ever had a shark bite your dream fish in half right at the side of the boat? Well it happened to me sadly. It was CRAZY that he bit it right at the side of the boat. The shark was HUGE! It was me, my dad and my dad’s friend.

I had saved up my money for a year to buy this fishing reel for that fish. The first time I went for my dream fish was when I was 8.

When you go fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, it’s crazy. Fourth of July weekend in 2017, I was fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. We were fishing for red snapper. I was flatlining, and my dad and his friend were deep-dropping.

We then decided that we were going to move spots. My dad was putting other coordinates in the sonar. I got my hook right at the side of the boat, and then I saw some sort of fish take the bait. Then my drag went to screaming. It went straight down! I knew I had caught something. I initially thought it was a reef shark, but little did I know what was coming next.

I started reeling in this fish. It fought hard. I got it to the side of the boat, and it went under the boat, then BANG! My dad and his friend thought it snapped the line on the hull of the boat. Then we saw that there was bright red blood in the water. A shark had bit the fish under the boat!

I yelled, “It’s still on!” Then we got the fish in the boat. The shark had bitten the fish in half. It was then revealed to me that it was a mahi-mahi, my dream fish! My dad thought I was hyperventilating because I was so excited.

When I was in first grade, my teacher Mrs. Seymour caught one on her honeymoon. I was so jealous that she caught one before me. She knew I went fishing. When we got back to the dock, I told my mom, “Guess what I caught today?” Then I showed it to her, and then the first words she said were, “Do you want me to text it to Mrs. Seymour?” I said, “Yes.”

This trip taught me to never give up because you never know the day that you may catch your dream fish.

Grant Chastain with his dream fish, a mahi-mahi caught in the Gulf of Mexico in July 2017. A big shark bit the fish in half right at the boat.