Twelve-year-old goes fishing, reels in great white shark (video)

Campbell Keenan, 12, of Boston, was visiting Fort Lauderdale, Florida when his family went out on a charter fishing boat. Keenan had fished before—his best catch was a 25-inch striper. On this trip though, he almost needed… a bigger boat.

"Well, it was a pretty slow day, we were just catching some fish, and then all of sudden, when they starting reeling it in, it took out drag, and I was like, 'Is this thing going to pull me in?' because I was just scared," he told WSVN.

Turns out, he had hooked an 11-foot-long great white shark. After fighting for 45 minutes to reel in the shark, the boat's crew removed the line and tagged the shark for researchers to track.

front page illustrative image: Martin Prochazkacz/Shutterstock