Estimated as 11 feet long and with a weight of 761 pounds, a great white shark named Dold has been recently found within a few miles of Vero Beach, Fla. (Shutterstock)
March 12, 2025
By Lynn Burkhead
As we begin this week’s edition of Game & Fish magazine's News and Notes, the outdoors world is slowly turning away from a focus on hunting to a newfound interest in grabbing the tackle box for some springtime angling.
That means fishing news is on the upswing, with a shark cruising towards Florida, new world records certified by the International Game Fish Association, a bass fishing icon getting a rare honor, and near tragedy avoided by a trio of Michigan ice fishermen.
Florida Spring Break for Great White Sharks? It's spring break season in Florida as thousands of people head for the warm weather, surf and sand of the Sunshine State's beaches.
And, apparently, for one really big great white shark, it's vacation season too. According to news reports and OCEARCH— a site that charts sharks moving up and down the eastern seaboard of the U.S.—this great white is a few miles off Florida's Atlantic coastline. According to officials, the sub-adult great white is estimated at more than 11 feet long and sporting a weight of 761 pounds.
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According to Tampa Bay's News Channel 8 , the great white shark pinged a few miles off the coast at Vero Beach on the morning of Tuesday, March 11, 2025. The shark has been tracked since first pinging on Feb. 28 when it was approximately 45 miles offshore near the Florida/Georgia state line. And just this morning as this story was being published, the great white shark pinged near Port Saint Lucie.
A part of the OCEARCH Western North Atlantic White Shark Study, Dold is named after Dr. Christopher Dold, the Chief Zoological Officer for SeaWorld and a key figure in ocean conservation. Biologists hope that by tracking great whites like Dold, they'll gain more knowledge and insight in the specie's migration habits, their health and their "role in maintaining ocean balance."
While Dold might seem big, it's a far cry from how big great white sharks can actually get. According to NOAA , the species can see individuals reach 21 feet in length and a weight of 4,500 pounds while living as long as 70 years in some cases.
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As readers of Game and Fish and our Outdoor Sportsman Group sister publication, Florida Sportsman , might recall, the late winter and early spring often bring news of great white sharks on both sides of the Florida peninsula.
Only a year ago, news went viral when guides Blaine Kenny and Dylan Wier teamed up to catch and release an estimated 1,200-pound great white shark while fishing on Jan. 31, 2024, at Navarre Beach on the Florida panhandle’s Gulf coastline .
And just before Christmas late last year , we reported on Yulee, Fla. angler Alberto Vanegas landing and releasing a great white shark estimated to be 10 feet in length. The shark reportedly bit the blackfin tuna head that Yulee was as bait some 400 feet off the Fernandina, Fla. beach on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.
Thin Ice Rescue for Anglers on Saginaw Bay Two ice anglers were rescued from the icy waters of Saginaw Bay in Michigan after falling through the thin ice. (Shutterstock photo) Technically, there’s still a few days before the spring equinox on March 20. But that doesn’t mean that it’s safe to continue ice fishing in one of Michigan’s more famed hard water angling spots.
That latter idea comes from Huron County Sheriff Kelly J. Hanson, who said that after two ice fishing rescues on Saginaw Bay on Monday and a subsequent aerial survey, that for all practical thinking, the 2024-25 ice fishing season is done.
According to the Michigan news site Thumbwind , two ice fishermen were rescued from Saginaw Bay on Monday of this week after breaking through thin ice near Sebewaing Township. Fortunately, a fellow angler was nearby and alerted authorities.
Emergency personnel from the Township's police and fire departments found conditions too dangerous to attempt a standard rescue, necessitating the deployment of an airboat from the Caseville Fire Department. It took nearly 50 minutes after the initial distress call to reach the two men, who were transported to shore with hypothermia setting in. They were taken to nearby communities for treatment.
If that wasn't enough near tragedy, the fisherman who reported the incident also fell through the thin ice but was able to escape by his own effort in the shallow water.
After the rescue, Sheriff Hanson took to the air and found the nearby ice showing numerous cracks, shifting, and open water sections.
"The ice is in very poor condition, with much of it moving due to stronger southwest winds," said Hanson to Thumbwind.com. "I strongly urge all ice fishermen to end their season immediately and stay off the ice."
World Record Blackfin Tuna Landed Near Miami Sp
Florida's legendary saltwater blue has produced a new all-tackle world record in the IGFA record book. That came earlier this year when a blackfin tuna catch last summer by Robert Kowalski as he and a group fished near Miami was certified by IGFA as the pelagic species' new benchmark. (Photo courtesy of IGFA) Speaking of blackfin tuna, you don’t often see news of a new all-tackle record for the pelagic species very often. But according to the International Game Fish Association , that happened last summer on June 1, 2024, when angler Robert Kowalski was fishing off Miami. Aboard the Miss Britt, Kowalski was able to hook and land a big 50-pound, 1-ounce, blackfin tuna.
According to the IGFA, the record blackfin struck a live bait off a kite and was boated after a 20-minute fight. Kowalski then returned to Grove Harbor Marina in Coconut Grove, Fla. for an official weight on a certified scale. With the weight and application confirmed, the IGFA says that Kowalski is the new All-Tackle World Record holder for the saltwater species.
Kentucky Angler Lands World Record Muskie Kentucky angler Art Weston is no stranger to the International Game Fish Association record book, with dozens of entries under his name. Last fall, he added his 79th record to the IGFA book with the catch and release of this 138 cm muskellunge, or muskie, from Minnesota's Mille Lacs Lake. The IGFA recently certified the catch as the new all tackle length world record catch for the freshwater predatory species. (Photo courtesy of IGFA) If the name of Art Weston rings a bell, it should. Because the Kentucky angler that we told you about a couple of years ago is up to his world record fishing tricks once again.
As readers of Game and Fish magazine might recall, we told you about Weston's massive world record catch on Sept. 2, 2023, when the angler landed a 283-pound alligator gar while fishing with Capt. Kirk Kirkland at Sam Rayburn Reservoir in southeast Texas.
Weston is a serious angler, taking adventurous trips for record fish quests. In fact, in addition to his overall alligator gar world record, Weston also holds all 11 men's line class world records for the species. With his records spanning the globe from Kentucky to Texas to Argentina and numerous other spots, Weston has held some 79 different world records (all-tackle and/or line class) in the IGFA record book , including 44 current records as of this writing.
You can include one late last year when Weston was fishing on Minnesota's Mille Lacs Lake with guide Nolan Sprengeler. While muskie fishing with Sprengeler, Weston hooked up with a monster specimen, one that was boated after a short but intense fight in the late-season water. After documenting the muskie's length at 54.33 inches, Weston had the guide snap a few photos, and the huge aquatic predator was safely released back into the water.
If that seems like a big muskie, it certainly is. In fact, the Oct. 29, 2024, catch was eventually certified as the new IGFA All-Tackle Length World Record for the species, in addition to becoming Weston's 79th overall IGFA world record.
Bill Dance Gets Unique Honor Of all of the many honors that have come the way of Bill Dance during his legendary angling career, he's never had a piece of infrastructure named after him. That changed earlier this year in Lynchburg, Tenn. when city officials decided to rename a bridge over the very Mulberry Creek that Dance learned to fish on years ago from his dad and his grandfather. (Photo courtesy of Bill Dance Outdoors) Tennessee bass-fishing legend Bill Dance never has won the Bassmaster Classic, despite eight appearances, four Top 10's in the Classic, and a runner-up finish in 1973. But the man who retired early from professional bass fishing won seven times in 78 B.A.S.S. events, while also finishing second eight times, in third place six times and in the Top 10 some 52 times.
And really, the Memphis-area resident, known for his trademark smile and white mesh hat with a big orange "T" for his beloved Tennessee Volunteers, has done just about everything else.
Except, that is, having a large piece of infrastructure named after him. More on that in a moment.
Credited with catching the first bass in Ray Scott’s 1967 All-American Bass Tournament, which became the precursor to today's B.A.S.S. tournament trail. As one of the sport's first full-time bass pros, Dance went on to earn three B.A.S.S. wins in his first 17 tournaments as well as the organization’s Angler of the Year (AOY) title some three times (1970, 1974, 1977).
As much an entertainer as he is a world class fisherman, Dance left the tournament trail fairly early in his career—he retired in 1980 at the age of 39—trading weigh-in scales for building career in the outdoors television industry.
Dance's show, known as " Bill Dance Outdoors," first aired on Memphis' ABC affiliate WHBQ on January 5, 1968, and has aired ever since with thousands of episodes. Dance's outdoor show has appeared on NBC Sports, ESPN, TNN, Outdoor Life Network, and for a number of years now, on Outdoor Channel.
The Tennessee legend has been featured in uncountable numbers of outdoor articles down through the years, has written countless articles himself and has himself authored or co-authored some 13 books on fishing.
In short, Bill Dance is a living legend today at the age of 84 and he shows no sign of slowing down, regularly filming his signature freshwater outdoors show as well as "Bill Dance Saltwater" on the Sportsman Channel. A fan favorite for selfie and autograph seekers, Dance appears at a number of fishing events each year, never running out of ink in his Sharpie pen.
But for all of those career accolades and almost certainly being on any bass angler’s Mount Rushmore list for the sport, Dance had something happen in recent days that has never happened to him before, or any professional bass angler for that matter.
What is the honor? A bridge named after Dance and certainly not a bridge over troubled water.
“Well folks, I gotta tell ya, I’m downright humbled and honored to have THIS bridge named after me—the Bill Dance Bridge—over none other than my Mulberry Creek in Lynchburg, TN!,” noted Dance earlier this year in a social media post on X .
“This very creek is where my daddy and granddaddy taught me all about fishin' and conservation,” Dance continued. “I just can’t thank the good folks in Lynchburg enough for this kind gesture! See you all this October for the dedication. I hope this bridge will be a reminder to folks to get outside, wet a line and maybe make a few memories of their own! Love y'all, Bill.”
Mr. Dance, it’s safe to say that millions of bass anglers and bass fishing fans—and a whole lot of Game & Fish magazine readers too—feel the same way. So, from your legion of fans around the world, congratulations on an honor like no other!
