SHARK SHOCKER! Huge thresher off UK coast
Massive thresher shark latest in a line of huge predators shown to be inhabiting UK coastal waters
BRITAIN’S growing reputation for big-game fishing has been further enhanced by the capture of an incredibly rare 300lb-plus thresher shark.
Skipper Andrew Alsop brought the 12ft-long specimen alongside his boat to cap off what he said was his best-ever summer season out of Milford Haven, West Wales.
Andrew was taking Alex and Rhia Hawkins out on his boat White Water and was handed the rod shortly after it took a whole sardine.
He said: “I saw the line rising through the water and thought the fish was going to jump so, knowing how important it could be, Alex passed me the rod and we saw this thresher clear the water.
“I knew we were dealing with a very big fish and after about 45 minutes we got it alongside the boat. It was definitely over 300lb, maybe nearer the 350lb mark.
“Threshers are very rare in UK waters, and this is the first one to my boat in my 20-year career,” he added.
Andrew’s charter business has now caught the ‘big five’ out of Milford Haven – mako, thresher, blue and porbeagle sharks, plus bluefin tuna.
“It’s been my best season ever. We’ve had blue sharks to 256lb, tuna over 600lb, porbeagle over 300lb and now this thresher, which has been the final piece in the jigsaw.”
Andrew said big-game fishing in UK waters is booming, with many experienced sea anglers realising they don’t have to travel the world for top sport.
He said: “Milford is the jewel in the crown for shark fishing in the British Isles and it’s getting better as we know our ground better.
“And even though you’re not allowed to target them, even with catch-and-release, we’re getting some of the biggest tuna in the world – perhaps only behind Canada.
“There are now so many of them in these waters that I reckon it won’t be long before we are allowed to go for them as a catchand-release species, like you can in Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Portugal and Spain.”