Brian Broom

Clarion Ledger

If you've ever fished a trotline in the Tombigbee River, you probably hoped to catch something with whiskers, not teeth.

According to Alabama Outdoors News, John Wayne Adams of McIntosh, Alabama, was recently baiting a trotline when he felt a tug.

“I was baiting up my trot line when I felt something hit one of the hooks I had already baited," Adams told AON. "It felt pretty good.

"It turned my boat around. I decided to bait the rest of my hooks and go see what it was.”

Much to his surprise, it wasn't a catfish.

"I pulled it up, and this bull shark was smiling at me with all his teeth,” Adams said.

Bull sharks are one of the few sharks that will venture into freshwater. They are also known to attack humans.

One series of attacks is said to be the inspiration for the movie 'Jaws.'

In 1916 newspapers reported a series of shark attacks in New Jersey. In the first two weeks of July, five people were attacked by sharks and four of the victims died. Three of the attacks occurred in a freshwater creek several miles from the nearest bay.

"That was probably, most likely, a bull," Eric Hoffmeyer said. "The big ones have the ability to go within freshwater areas. There are records of bull sharks occurring as far north as St. Louis."

Hoffmeyer is a research fishery biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and spoke with The Clarion-Ledger about bull sharks last year. He spent several years working with bull sharks on the Mississippi coast.

"They can get up to 11 feet, maybe 12 feet, and several hundred pounds," Hoffmeyer said. "What surprises a lot of folks is that the shallow water areas along the coast are a nursery."

Read the full article about Adam's catch at Alabama Outdoor News.

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Contact Brian Broom at (601) 961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com. Follow The Clarion-Ledger Outdoors on Facebook and @Brian Broom on Twitter.