Chip Michalove with his girlfriend, TV news anchor Riley Miller who is a UK fan just like him
Chip Michalove is known as the “Great White Shark Whisperer” who has hooked a 3,500-pound great white shark a few miles off the South Carolina coast. The Kentucky native moved to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, in 1989 and now owns and operates Outcast Sport Fishing. However, his love for Kentucky basketball has never stopped — even with UK off to such a horrible start this year.
When Kentucky lost to Louisville his boat was not available for charter. It’s the same in March if Kentucky is playing in the NCAA Tournament.
“I was born in Lexington and spent about the first 10 years of my life in Louisville before my parents divorced and I moved to Hilton Head with my mom,” Michalove said. “I still get back to Lexington about twice a year to catch a game. I like to see games like Louisville, North Carolina and Kansas. But the boat never leaves the dock on the Kentucky-Louisville game or for NCAA Tournament games. Everyone knows that.”
He almost named his boat “Bleed Blue” but knew that might not be a good business move with Indiana and Tennessee fans.
“But our logo is a great white (shark) with a jockey and the jockey silks are blue and white checkered,” he said. “My dog is named Cali after (John) Calipari because I am a huge fan of his. I believe he’s vastly underrated. I hate seeing all the heat that has been on him. Some of it has been ridiculous, but he’s great at developing players.”
His first sports memories are his parents pulling for Kentucky and/or Louisville. He remembers arguing with elementary school friends about UK and the Cards. He remembers getting to watch stars like Rex Chapman of Kentucky or Pervis Ellison of Louisville play when he got to go to games. He jokes one of his best days was when Chapman followed him on Twitter.
“My dad still lives in Louisville and we are best friends. We talk Kentucky basketball or football almost every day,” Michalove said. “He does not keep up as I do with recruiting, coaching changes and stuff like that. The late 1980s or 90s it was hard to get Kentucky info. Now I can get it on KSR, The CatsPause and Twitter daily.”
So how did he go from a young boy in Kentucky loving the Wildcats to the “Shark Whisperer,” making national headlines working with scientists at the Atlantic Shark Institute and the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy placing tracking devices on sharks? It started when he caught a 6-foot shark on a vacation to Hilton Head Island when he was 6 years old.
“It was the scariest thing and I cried. But I also loved it,” Michalove said. “Back in Kentucky I would fish the Ohio River, Lake Cumberland. I was always fishing but I was not obsessed with walleye or crappie. I wanted the biggest bass, biggest catfish. Then it went back to the biggest, baddest thing in the water — sharks.”
Once he got to Hilton Head, he knew he wanted to be a chartered fisherman and catch sharks. He says he “failed” a lot and lost the first great white he hooked. In fact, he lost the first three.
“I could not figure out how to put the brakes on a great white shark. Nobody in the world was catching them that I could call to ask for advice,” he said. “I learned through trial and error. I tried different methods until I got it figured out.”
Michalove says the obsession Kentucky fans have with UK basketball is similar to what the public has with sharks.
“There is no sailfish week on the Discovery Channel. The public has so much interest in sharks,” he said.
He now laughs at being told there were no great whites off the coast of South Carolina.
“Nobody had ever seen one. Then after years of trying, it happened. It was so crazy that not even our local paper believed me when I hooked my first one,” Michalove said. “They told me unless I was in the picture it was hard to believe.
“The next one I hooked was about 2,500 pounds. So I put my hand on its nose for a picture and then CNN, Fox News and all the bigger news outlets were calling,” Michalove said. “Next thing I was working with top scientists in the world and leading expeditions to catch sharks. I run a charter boat by trade but I take out a lot of scientists. It’s worked out great.”
He even met his girlfriend, Riley Miller — a Kentucky native from Bowling Green who is now news anchor for ABC TV affiliate WJCL in Savannah, Georgia — because she called to do a story about him.
“I threw everything in my portfolio at her to impress her and catch her eye. Fortunately something worked,” he said.
Miller, who is a UK graduate and UK fan, is not nearly as fond of fishing as he is. She’s gone out with him to hunt lemon or sandbar sharks.
“I don’t know if she is built for catching a great white. That is usually at least a 12-hour day. She’s not good for more than a couple of hours,” he said. “She’s not real thrilled when we go out. She’s more concerned about getting nauseous.”
However, he did persuade her once to take a picture with a small shark in her lap.
“I told her all her friends would go nuts and social media would go nuts and she would get more publicity than she could ever imagine holding a shark,” he said.
Transylvania basketball coach Brian Lane went shark fishing in Hilton Head with Michalove and caught a shark.
“It was not huge, but it was a shark,” Lane said. “We were able to hold it but I was holding the tail. I am not a big fan of sharks and did not want to have it bite me.
“Chip is a good dude. He told me then he listens to sports radio back in Kentucky almost every day. He loves the Cats. His dad came up and took a picture and sent it down to him a couple years ago when we played Kentucky in an exhibition game.”
Michalove just hopes the Cats can solve their problems and go on a long winning streak. He thinks better point guard play would help.
“If we had DeAaron Fox or Tyler Ulis, we would be better,” the shark fisherman said. “Ulis was so smart and quick. He thought pass first. We need that this year. Devin Askew just does not have it yet. They are missing a good quarterback. I would love to have Brandon Knight on this team. He was fantastic and would make them so much better. But no matter what, I stay a fan.”
