VIDEO: Family vacationing in Florida catches great white shark

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) - A vacationing family went fishing in Florida and was shocked to reel in a great white shark.

The kids on board became adorably ecstatic, and the family caught the whole thing on camera.

The kids described the adventure as the “best day ever.” They were out on the water in Fort Lauderdale when they nabbed the shark.

The family, who are from North Dakota, said they came to south Florida for an exciting fishing trip, so they booked a shark fishing adventure with Good Hit Sportfishing. They had no idea how eventful the trip would become.

While in the fight to catch another fish, one of the men said they felt a great tug on their fishing line.

“When it hit the one rod, it just hit it and it took off, so we knew it was something big,” said Shaun Jacobson.

The shark was so big, it took all three men aboard to reel the big guy in.

“We were alternating turns left and right, probably, what, 20 to 30 cranks and then the next guy was on,” Jacobson said.

After about 40 minutes of tugging and pulling, the men were finally able to reel it in.

A catch like this is extremely rare in south Florida. It wasn’t until they saw the boat captain’s reaction that they knew how special the capture was.

“I’ve been doing this 20 years full time as a captain, and that’s the second one that I’ve landed,” said Capt. Adam Reckert. “The last one was about 15 years ago.”

With that in mind, everybody decided to keep this memory forever by snapping a couple pictures and videos. Before letting it go, the kids decided to give the large fish a cool name to remember him by.

“We named it Cofax Crusher.”

They tagged Cofax Crusher before setting the shark free. Good Hit Sportfishing says that’s standard protocol.

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