CHARENTON — Eric and Ali Provost of New Iberia won’t ever forget their 10th anniversary or the day they caught a shark in the Atchafalaya Basin.

The Provosts, who love to be outdoors in the Sportsman’s Paradise, pulled in their sixth and last jugline Friday while fishing in the G.A. Cut toward Myette Point in their 16-foot aluminum, camouflaged boat powered by a Pro-Drive. It wasn’t bobbing or anything, Ali said.

“That was the very last ‘noodle.’ I’ve been juglining a lot. I couldn’t tell anything was on it. I looked over. My husband just gasped. I said, ‘That’s not a catfish.’ He said, ‘It’s a shark,’ ” she said at midday Saturday, recalling the improbable events.

The 32-year-old Sorrell native, a West St. Mary High grad, said the shark obviously was tired out, which is why the noodle wasn’t being yanked to and fro. Her husband, a Jeanerette native, decided to boat it for a photo or two.

“It wasn’t moving too much,” Ali said.

There is a 4-foot bench in the boat and the shark nearly covered it, she said. They released it quickly.

“I hope he makes it,” she said.

She sent a photo right away to her niece, who was babysitting Cove, the Provosts’ 3-year-old son. 

“The first thing he said was, “Oh, no, did the shark eat mommy?’” Ali said.

Later, when they returned home, Eric, who isn’t a big fan of Facebook or social media, asked her if she had posted the photos on Facebook. She said no but decided to do just that.

Her Facebook post at 6:58 p.m. Friday read:

“Caught a SHARK today in the G.A. cut. Just minutes from the Charenton boat landing. He was released safely back in the water.

“Crazy to think we have sharks in the freshwater of the Atchafalaya Basin!

#weregonnaneedabiggerboat#rivermonsters”

The post went viral. As  of 1:32 p.m. Saturday, there were 2,556 shares and 529 messages.

They were fishing Friday after  celebrating their anniversary Thursday with a saltwater fishing trip to Chauvin. They caught redfish and had “tons of mullet and shad left over.”

“I wanted to go saltwater fishing on my anniversary. Please give a shoutout, a thank you, to my husband for taking me fishing. I don’t know how we’ll top it next year,” she said. 

“I told him next up on the bucket list is a rougarou,” she said with a chuckle, talking about the legendary Cajun French creature said to prowls the swamps of Acadiana.

Eric, an avid duck hunter who hunts ducks each season with their 7-year-old son, Cannon, who will be a second-grader at Glencoe Charter School, may be hard-pressed to deliver on that anniversary gift. However, he had a winner on Friday for the woman who loves the outdoors as much as he does.

He decided to go fishing to use the leftover mullets and shad. She was all for that.

They set out the juglines for catfish, then went to try to catch some fish on rod-and-reel. The catfish didn’t bite at all.

Later, they went back and ran the juglines. And landed a shark.

The Facebook response was overwhelming. People were amazed.

“That looks like a baby Bull Shark!” Keith Ott wrote.

“Yep, I’ve always heard they go that far in but never really expected to see one there (a few minutes from Charenton Shell Beach Landing)!” Ali replied.

Then Coty Duhon wrote: “Bull sharks can adapt to fresh water, I tell people all the time to watch themselves on the sand bar in the lake. I’ve caught them there on jugs too.”

“It’s exciting, for sure,” Ali said.

While they were fishing Thursday, they saw a bull shark in the water, she said.

“We didn’t expect to see a shark” the next day in the nation’s last great overflow swamp, she said.

One of her Facebook posts caught the eyes of many: “Oh man now I’m gonna be the shark girl from da berry lol.”