Angler hooks 'taxman' but then a much larger shark comes calling

A fishing-themed social-media page on Sunday posted a “viral alert” image showing an angler posing with the head of a large shark and asked followers: “What did this?”

A little research reveals that the image was captured off Mozambique, in southeast Africa, in 2022.

Back then the charter company Fish Bazaruto explained the chain of events, via Instagram, that led to the angler posing with a shark’s head: “On a recent session we hooked into a Yellowspotted Trevally that was taken by this shark, which was eventually taxed by an even bigger one.”

A shark is often referred to as the taxman, or tax collector, if it devours all or part of a hooked game fish.

There was speculation in the comments, including by Fish Bazaruto, that the larger shark, which was not seen, was either a bull shark or tiger shark.

The image was shared via Instagram Sunday by Waypointfish. Below is the 2022 Fish Bazaruto post.