A recent column about a great white shark cruising off the South Carolina coastline and a 1,784 pound tiger shark caught from the Cherry Grove, SC fishing pier in 1964, has kindled a lot of interest. I’ve received several emails from readers who have tracked Mary Lee, the great white shark, for months. However the most interesting one came from Frank Jones of Stella, NC who witnessed the capture of the tiger shark almost fifty years ago.

Frank recalls that there were so many people watching the shark being caught, that the pier was shaking. A sheriff came out and told Walter Maxwell (the angler) that he was causing a problem and would have to cut the line. Walt kept fishing, so the sheriff cleared the fishing pier of people. After a battle of about three hours, the shark was eventually beached. It was so big that a wrecker had to use its hydraulics to pull it from the water. When it was weighed the next day, it tipped the scales at 1,784 pounds. Had it been weighed immediately, it might have topped 2000 pounds.

The great white shark, Mary Lee, spent Christmas 2013 off the coast of Savannah, Ga. Since then, she has traveled well offshore to a location east of Georgetown, SC. The last time she surfaced (indicated on the Ocearch tracking chart) was on January 12, 2014. She, and others can be tracked at www.ocearch.org.

In addition to Mary Lee, a second great white shark is cruising in the same general area of the Atlantic Ocean. Known as Genie, by the biologists, she is a fifteen foot long female that weighs approximately 2500 pounds. According to Ocearch.org, Genie was fitted with a GPS tracking device on September 12, 2012 off Cape Cod. She last surfaced on January 6, 2014 of the coast of Charleston, SC.

One reader asked, “How do the researchers know if a shark is pregnant or not?” An ultra sound is performed as part of the examination before releasing the shark. Genie was not pregnant at her time of capture.

Ken Gustafson, Jr., a resident of Charleston, SC, was paddle boarding the day Mary Lee entered St. Helena Sound in 2013. Since then, he has become very aware of his surroundings and doesn’t wear a black or brown wet suit for fear of being mistaken for a seal or sea lion.

Matt Gatlin of Charlotte, NC holding a winterlargemouth bass taken from Lake Norman.



Tips from Capt. Gus! Winter is a good time to organize and replenish your tackle box, clean and lubricate reels, replace worn or broken rod tips and guides, and re-spool fishing reels. Don’t delay - spring is just around the corner.

Upcoming Events:
Father-Son Bass Fishing Tournament: February 1^st at Midway Marina, Terrell, NC. Registration begins at 6 a.m. - Fishing from 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. First Prize $250. For information, contact [email protected].

“How to Navigate Lake Norman Day or Night” is a free Safe Boating Class to be held at Morning Star Marina, Kings Point, Exit 28, Cornelius, NC on February 13th at 6:30 p.m. Becky Johnson and I will cover topics that include “Understanding LKN’s Channel Marker and Buoy System”, “How to Avoid shallow Water”,” The Ten Most Dangerous Spots”, and “Interpreting Lake Maps”. For more information, call Ashley at 704 892 7575.

Hot Spots of the Week: The area from the main channel Marker 17B south to Marker 15 is producing nice catches of bass, along with a few stripers, hybrids and white perch. Fishing is best when sea birds are diving, but anglers trolling live and artificial baits are catching fish throughout the day. Those fishing in Mountain, Little, Reed and Ramsey Creeks are also reporting nice caches. Spotted bass are averaging three pounds or more.

The water level on Lake Norman is about 3.8’ below full pond and is 3.7' below full on Mountain Island Lake. The surface water temperature is in the forties in water not affected by power generation on Lake Norman.