Surprises are, by nature, unwelcome when hooked to your fishing line—especially when they involve something roughly the size of a pool table. But for Ed Lovely and Moe Giovanni of Connecticut, an otherwise unremarkable outing on the Long Island Sound turned into a marathon showdown with a 700-pound thresher shark. It’s the sort of event that seems custom-built for skeptical double-takes: the fish matches the length of their boat, the battle lasts six hours, and the state record books are suddenly in play.

When “Something Big” Isn’t Just a Fish Story

According to UPI, Ed Lovely was hand-feeding his line into the Sound as he and Giovanni drifted in their 16.5-foot boat. He’d just reached a depth of about 45 feet when, in his words, “boom, something just hit and—bang, zoom—it started spooling us.” Over the next six hours, the two traded time on the rod and managed boat maneuvers, trying to keep their sanity (and the catch) intact.

Several hours—and, reportedly, a snapped winch bolt—later, they managed to harpoon the thresher and tow it ashore. Lovely described seeing the enormous outline in the water and realizing, “This is crazy. Even Moe was like, ‘This is the biggest fish I’ve ever seen.’” For all its cinematic qualities, the event registered mostly as disbelief. “I was smiling like a little kid,” Lovely said. “This stuff doesn’t happen, especially on a boat that size and a rod that size.”

WTNH detailed that the pair had only set out on a “quick fishing trip,” with no ambitions beyond their usual haunts. A few hours into their day near Stonington, the reality of hauling up a sixteen-foot shark forced a much-needed reassessment of what’s possible in Connecticut waters. As friend and fellow angler Matt Hardisty (who himself caught a sizable shark back in 2012) noted, “It’s a marathon, it’s a test of endurance, it’s you versus nature.”

For the Record: What Counts, What Doesn’t

No good fish tale is complete without a dash of procedural red tape. The WTNH report and UPI both confirm that the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is reviewing the marine trophy fish award application to see if this catch will officially dethrone the current records. The state’s largest shark on file had been a 650-pound mako shark, according to UPI, while the thresher record stands at 467 pounds—a figure BroBible traces to angler Mark Hiller’s 2006 catch.

BroBible provides some helpful context—and a little procedural intrigue. To be formally recognized, a record catch usually requires more than collective memory and photographic evidence; it hinges on a certified scale. BroBible points out that while such scales are available at marinas, in a pinch, resourceful anglers have been known to tote their trophy to grocery stores or mailing centers (imagine maneuvering a 16-foot shark past the deli counter). In this case, the thresher’s weight was estimated at 700 pounds after Lovely’s winch failed under the burden, but none of the reports mention a certified scale reading. BroBible notes the catch was subsequently cut into fillets—enthusiastically shared with friends and family—removing the possibility of a retroactive weigh-in.

The DEEP confirmed to news outlets, including UPI and BroBible, that they are “reviewing the shark for the Marine Trophy Fish Award,” and Lovely himself told WWNYTV he is “working with officials to get everything confirmed and is looking forward to possibly adding his name to the record book.” It’s now a judgment call: the difference between a legendary catch and an official record rests on technicalities.

A Shark Nearly as Long as the Boat—And Not Far Off a World Record

The numbers, once you accept them, do press the edges of ordinary belief. WWNYTV describes the shark as being sixteen feet to the boat’s 16.5 feet—a potentially awkward arrangement at best. That’s essentially a dead heat in the fish-versus-fisherman spatial Olympics. BroBible contextualizes just how rare this is: the only state fishing record in Connecticut larger is a bluefin tuna at 770 pounds. Even the International Game Fish Association’s world record for thresher sharks, 767 pounds and three ounces, isn’t far off this local encounter.

For his part, Lovely remains grounded about his abruptly upgraded fishing fortunes. Explaining that he wasn’t out for a record, but just “enjoying what I do, fishing,” as noted by WWNYTV, he summed up the universal dilemma of anyone whose catch exceeds all reasonable expectation: “I said no one is going to believe us, this is crazy.”

In the Annals of Unlikely Encounters

Setting aside paperwork and certification, the real hook in this story might simply be the delighted absurdity of it all. A weekday fishing trip becomes a test of endurance, quiet teamwork, and whether a small boat can physically tow an actual sea monster. Every record is the result of a tangle of effort, luck, and—occasionally—a snapped bolt and a dash to shore at 1 a.m., as BroBible recounts.

It’s hard not to wonder about the number of would-be record holders whose stories get lost to skepticism or logistical slip-ups. Who keeps a certified scale in their car, just in case? What other improbable creatures are out there, waiting to show up unannounced on boat decks, ready to challenge the limits of both equipment and credulity?

In the end, whether or not Lovely’s shark is immortalized in the state records, it already holds the distinction of being the day Connecticut’s quiet coastal routine was interrupted by a six-hour duel—and proof that sometimes, the unexpected swims right up to you.