Amateur fisherman lands huge SHARK longer than Smart car on first boat trip off British shores in just 45 minutes
Self-employed builder Danny Fitch reeled in the estimated 242lb (17.2st) blue shark off the coast of Milford Haven
AN amateur fisherman on his first shark-fishing trip landed this — one of the largest yet caught off UK shores.
Self-employed builder Danny Fitch took 45 minutes to reel in the estimated 242lb (17.2st) blue shark.
The dad-of-four, 49, of Norfolk, said: "This was my first shark fishing trip and I had hoped to catch one of about 100lbs so to catch a fish of the size I did is pretty unbelievable.
"It was really hard, tiring work. I got it into the boat four times, and four times it decided it wasn't coming in and shot off again.
"I was literally hanging out of the side of the boat trying to get it in.
"It was a case of just trying to hang on.
"Andrew did the measurements and went to shake my hand and said 'congratulations, this is a record'. It didn't sink in.
"When I was told how big it was, it was almost a feeling of disbelief.
"Because I haven't had any experience of shark fishing, although I knew it was a good fish, I couldn't really appreciate just how good it was because I haven't seen that many sharks."
Mr Fitch, a married father-of-four who lives in Norfolk, made the catch off the coast of Milford Haven, which has become popular for those seeking the expert guidance of Mr Alsop.
He has a policy of always releasing the fish his groups catch safely back into the sea.
Mr Alsop said: "Moments like this are why a lot of people love to do this.
"You have to wear the shark down over quite a long period and it takes a lot of strength and effort.
"Danny's biggest fish before this one was a 40lb tope."
It is thought to be the second largest caught off Britain but cannot get a UK record as it was put back into the sea, not weighed on shore. But it could win the Welsh record from video evidence.