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300 Pound Bull Shark Stuns Angler After 30 Minute Fight
Brian Nagele
June 30, 2026
Record catches and unexpected encounters lead this week’s fishing headlines. A Tennessee bass rewrites the state record books, an Idaho angler returns to the top with another giant lake trout, and a North Carolina fisherman battles a 300-pound bull shark that turned an ordinary tarpon trip into an unforgettable fight.
Tennessee Angler Breaks 11 Year Bass Record. The day Darren Nunley landed a 15-pound, 7.5-ounce largemouth bass from Nickajack Reservoir, he broke Tennessee's 11-year state record. After the catch, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency confirmed the fish's weight and used genetic testing to verify it was a pure Florida bass, not a hybrid. That distinction made the catch even more significant, surpassing the previous 15-pound, 3-ounce F1 hybrid record. Biologists say the fish reflects years of Florida bass stocking, habitat improvement, and careful fisheries management. Nunley caught the record bass on a chatterbait after a guide pointed him toward active fish on the reservoir's lower end. Read More
Idaho Angler Reclaims State Record With 43.25 Inch Lake Trout. Dylan Smith of Idaho Falls reclaimed Idaho's catch-and-release lake trout record after landing a 43.25 inch fish from Payette Lake on May 2. The giant trout surpassed the previous 42 inch record, which had replaced Smith's own 2018 mark. After measuring the fish, Smith released it back into the lake, returning to the top of Idaho's record books with another trophy-sized catch. Read More
300 Pound Bull Shark Stuns Angler After 30 Minute Fight. Veteran angler Michael Starkie got far more than he expected during a fishing trip on North Carolina's Neuse River. Fishing near Green Springs on Thursday morning, Starkie had spent several hours targeting tarpon and had been in one spot for only 15 minutes when a powerful fish struck. Instead of a tarpon, he found himself battling a massive bull shark. A commercial fisherman who was with him estimated the shark measured about 8 feet long and weighed around 300 pounds. After a 30-minute fight, Starkie cut the line, calling it the biggest bull shark he has encountered in more than 30 years. Read More
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