Mysterious shark species boated

A SEA angler who set himself the target of becoming the first man to catch a swordfish in the British Isles had a rather different surprise this week when he hooked a true monster of the deep.

Fishing 100-miles off Baltimore, Ireland, Mike Sherwood and friends were stunned when they pulled up several bizarre-looking creatures, later identified as leafscale gulper sharks.

It’s believed this could be the first time the deep-water dogfish species has been recreationally caught on rod and line. Their strange appearance and eye colour aside, perhaps just as astonishing were the depths the fish were caught from. 

Mike said:

“We caught them between 1,600ft and 2,400ft down. With 11lb of lead required to get the rig down, a bait change would take over an hour. We had no idea what species it was when we first got one to the surface, but a bit of research online soon provided the answer.”

To check out the charter boat Mike was fishing from visit: www.mckiesfishingcharters.co.uk

Mike Sherwood with his leafscale gulper shark