Saturday afternoon of Oct. 13th, 2019 was like any other weekend afternoon on the river for Martin Brody and son, Sean. The two Jefferson City residents had been fishing on the Osage River for hours without any luck. Their luck would change.
‘We’d been out on the river a while not having much luck but enjoyin’ the nice warm weather when there was a good size tug at our pole. I’d brought out the heavy duty pools hoping for some good cats. Sean got to the pole first and the fight was on, Baby.” said Martin, 64.
Apparently, after Sean Brody, 24, got to the rod a three hour power struggle occurred.
“I finally got the monster to the boat and my dad was tugging on the line with me. I’d never seen anything like it come from this river and we’ve been fishing in it my whole life. I saw this kind of slate grey and then came the fins! I thought oh crap! This is a shark!”
After verification from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department experts it was confirmed that the Brody’s catch was indeed a young Bull Shark of 5ft.
Resident Marine Biologist, Pete Benchley, was asked to look into the situation.
“This might very well be a serious issue or nothing at all. What most people do not realize is that Bull Sharks are much more adaptable than other members of the shark family. They have a special bladder that doesn’t require them to survive in salt water. This has caused real serious issues in Australia where they have invaded almost every river in that continent. We have had other sighting on the Osage and Missouri Rivers and I’m afraid it isn’t a coincidence. Back in 2009 one was caught in the Mississippi near Alton, IL. just north of St. Louis. It wouldn’t be a stretch for them to travel up tributaries as well. U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Missouri Conservation Department are definitely going to keep an eye on this and I’ll assist as much as I can. People are going to have to educate themselves. These fish are very aggressive.” warned Benchley.
A Q&A is to be held at the Miller County courthouse in Tuscumbia, MO. on Oct. 29th at 7:00PM on this shark species to inform locals as others have come forward claiming to have spotted the creatures or their fins.
When asked what they were going to do with their catch Martin Brody stated they were going to take it to a taxidermist if Missouri law will allow as it would be a good conversation piece.