SLO Fisherman Catches 10-Foot Shark Off Pismo Beach Pier

A fisherman does battle with a “Big Catch” off the Pismo Beach Pier. He soon realizes it’s a 10 foot thresher shark biting on the line. We were there and shot exclusive video of the fisherman trying to reel it in.

It happened Saturday evening. It was the catch of the summer for San Luis Obispo native Brandon Miller.

“I was on the pier doing a little fishing and caught a thresher shark,” fisherman Brandon Miller said.

Miller struggled for several minutes to reel in this nearly 10 foot shark.

“First one this year, I suppose, well that I’ve heard of,” Miller said.

Miller and his friends tried to get the shark into this crab net but ultimately it got away. Miller says he would’ve kept it.

“They’re good, they taste like any other white meat really, chicken, fish, cod, halibut, it’s all wrapped into one,” Miller said.

While the group was in awe to see a shark so close to the pier..Cal Fire/Pismo Beach firefighters and lifeguards tell us it’s a fairly common occurrence. They don’t keep a running tally of shark sightings but officials say that people report seeing a shark almost daily and that the public is not at a high risk of being attacked.

“It’s not going to scare me away,” Pismo Beach visitor Laurel Garcia said.

Laurel Garcia and her family drove in from the Fresno area. She says she doesn’t think twice about sharks.

“There’s millions of people that go in the ocean everyday and it’s very seldom that it does happen and very seldom that we do get hurt by it,” Garcia said.

But her boyfriend – he’s not as confident.

“Sharks scare me, you know, when you enter the ocean, you enter the food chain,” Pismo Beach visitor Scott Russell said.

Lifeguards had red flags out on their stations because a 10 foot Great White Shark was seen Sunday – but they say these sharks are more afraid of us than we should be of them.

“The shark made my day, I thought I was going to go home and make some tacos but that isn’t happening!” Miller said.

Officials say that just because you see one shark doesn’t necessarily mean there’s more around.

Watch the video of Miller’s shark catch below.

VIDEO: Shark Caught Off Pismo Beach Pier