Teen from Little Rock catches a bull shark while on vacation

Little Rock, Arkansas – Earlier this month, while on vacation with relatives, a teenage angler from central Arkansas might have caught the catch of his life.

A five-and-a-half-foot bull shark was caught by Little Rock resident Nicholas Rupp in the Gulf of Mexico.

During their deep-sea fishing excursion, the family was hoping to land a red snapper, but Rupp sensed something much larger at the end of his line.

Rupp and his family finally spotted the belly of the object that was putting up a fight after 25 minutes of reeling in and pulling against whatever was at the bottom of the line.

“All I knew was that it was insanely hard and I was having to fight to keep the rod tip from bending into the water,” Rupp said.

Rupp said he was having trouble keeping the tip of the rod above water, comparing the shark’s roughness to that of sandpaper and the thrill of the catch to pure adrenaline.

“I was like, ‘This is bigger than any fish I’ve ever seen in person before,’” Rupp said.

Rupp claimed that he sent his pals back home the videos and photos he had taken as soon as he caught and released the shark.

Vacation memories like this one are the ones that Nicholas’ mother, Krysta Rupp, said she cherishes the most.