Hour-Long Battle Ends With Rare Great White Shark Catch Off Florida Gulf Coast
A 12-foot great white shark, estimated at more than 1,200 pounds, was caught and released from the shore of a Florida panhandle beach.
The catch required nearly an hour of fighting and a drone to identify what was on the line. The YouTube video has since passed 1.2 million views — and it’s raising questions about what’s actually possible from the sand.
Overnight Fishing on a Florida Beach
Blaine Kenny and Dylan Wier own Coastal Worldwide shark fishing tours, and their jaw-dropping catch at Navarre Beach on Santa Rosa Island, between Pensacola and Destin, Florida, didn’t happen by accident.
They set up equipment on the beach the night before and sat through the dark waiting for a bite.
Their bait tells you everything about the scale of what they were after. Kenny used the head of an 80-pound yellowfin tuna. Wier used the head of a 150-pound swordfish.
The bite came at 8 a.m. and Kenny knew right away he had hooked something large. The fish was heading east fast enough that the pair considered chasing it down the beach.
“This is absolutely nuts dude, he’s screaming east,” Kenny said in the video. “We might have to end up chasing him at some point.”
Drone Footage Confirmed What They Were Hoping
More than halfway through the fight, the pair still had no idea what was on the other end of the line. So, they grabbed the drone to see what was out there.
“It’s a big, big wintertime shark,” Wier said. “There’s only a few things it can be, a mako, a giant tiger, a white shark or the biggest dusky we’ve ever seen in our lives.”
So they deployed a drone. The birds-eye view from above the water gave them confirmation.
“Look at that, that’s a white shark!” Wier says. “That’s a monster, dude, that’s not just any white shark.”
The fight lasted nearly one hour and Kenny was visibly tired by the end, but he eventually reeled the shark close enough to shore to unhook and release it.
According to a Facebook post from Coastal Worldwide, the shark was estimated to be more than 1,200 pounds and 12 feet long.
“This has been the day that Blaine has been dreaming about since he dropped his first bait,” Wier said.
According to the video, the catch was made possible with a 200lb. 12 strand braid, LBSF Shark Fishing Kayak deployed leader, HD shark sandspike and shark fishing beach cart, and a thrasher towtruck series rod.
Every component of that setup is built for endurance and power — the kind of specialized equipment that separates recreational surf casting from targeted big-game shore fishing.
Footage of the catch was shared on YouTube on Jan. 31, 2024.
Coastal Worldwide Has Done This Before
The team previously caught an 11-foot great white in March 2023, roughly 10 months earlier, off Orange Beach, Alabama.
Dr. Marcus Drymon of Mississippi State University described how rare that Alabama catch was in an interview with WALA.
“This is a very rare event and maybe, if those guys continue to fish from the beach for the next several years and never catch another one like it,” Drymon said of the Alabama catch, adding the species is uncommon in this part of the world and especially from the beach.
Their 12-foot great white shark catch came just 10 months later.
How Technology Changed the Game
Shore-based shark fishing occupies a niche space. Most beach anglers target redfish, pompano, or smaller sharks. Hooking a great white from the sand — let alone one estimated at more than 1,200 pounds — sits far outside the norm.
The drone added a practical layer worth watching. It gave the anglers real-time information about what they were dealing with, allowing them to make decisions about how to handle the fish safely.
Kenny and Wier used it to solve a genuine problem: they couldn’t see what was on the other end of the line, and the answer to that question determined everything about their next move.
Kenny reeled the shark close enough to unhook it and let it go. At that size, handling a great white from shore requires both the right equipment and a clear plan for release.
What to Watch
Coastal Worldwide’s back-to-back great white catches from Gulf Coast beaches suggest a level of preparation and targeting that goes well beyond luck.
The overnight setup, the specialized gear, the oversized bait, and the drone identification all point to a deliberate method.
Whether this signals a broader shift in shore-based shark fishing or remains a two-time anomaly from one exceptionally committed crew, it has already captured more than a million viewers and the attention of marine scientists like Dr. Drymon.
Production of this article included the use of AI. It was reviewed and edited by a team of content specialists.
