198lb shark on fly rod

The UK’s biggest ever shark landed on a fly rod has been boated at a colossal 198lb.

It was almost a case of what could have been, however, for captor Nick Fahey as the huge porbeagle smashed his rod in two during an adrenaline fuelled fight that lasted almost two hours.

Thankfully, he was able to hang on and successfully land the historic specimen.
The Kent-based dentist was fishing with a group of friends aboard skipper Andrew Alsop’s White Water II which operates out of Milford Haven on the Welsh coast.

The predator, which fell to a homemade fly, is also believed to be the heaviest shark caught using a fly rod in the whole of Northern Europe.

Andrew Alsop: “This group of guys love catching huge shark on fly fishing gear and have spent a lot of time developing their techniques and baits so I’m really pleased that Nick has landed this historic fish,” he said.

“When his rod exploded we only had the handle and the reel left to land the shark, which was a bit of a challenge to say the least! We got there in the end, though.”

Andrew is no stranger to seeing large fly-caught shark caught from his boat as last August four anglers landed a record breaking breaking haul of 29lb blue sharks to 120lb using imitation seagulls.

For more information or to book a trip on Whitewater II visit: www.whitewatercharters.co.uk

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