Shark over 8ft long the best birthday gift - Harry Pardoe
“My dad and I booked a trip to Falmouth in the hope of catching a shark over 50lb to celebrate my 30th birthday.
“We headed out with Andy Howell, who owns the Anglo Dawn charter boat, in a confident mood, and started by putting down a chum trail to attract the sharks, and within an hour there were two giants circling the boat. Eventually one took the bait, and it felt very heavy from the word go!
“It took an hour to beat the fish but it was more than worth all the effort. It measured 8ft 8in long, with a girth of 3ft 8in, which meant an estimated weight of 251lb.
“The day got even better when my dad got stuck into a giant of his own that was also over 8ft long and estimated at 180lb.
“Over two days of fishing we banked 15 blue sharks. It was an absolutely incredible trip!”
Harry Pardoe and his Dad with the 250lb-plus blue shark
100lb-plus Porbeagle fights for over an hour!
THRILL-seeking angler Simon Davidson wished he’d had a bigger boat during his latest trip after battling this estimated 140lb porbeagle for more than an hour.
The 38-year-old from Kettering, Northants, was aboard Broadside Charters off the Welsh coast when the immense predator snatched his freelined mackerel just feet from the vessel.
“After a short run I felt I was in control but then it surfaced, woke up and stripped hundreds of yards off my reel!” says Simon.
“My heart was racing. It felt like I was pulling the boat towards the shark rather than bringing the shark towards the boat – it was so powerful.”
After 30 minutes, during which time the shark hugged the bottom in 400ft of water, Simon reeled it to the surface only for it to dive back down again…
“I wanted a breather, but the crew encouraged me not to give up. Half-an-hour later I got it back to the boat, the captain grabbed the leader and it was mine.
The porbeagle, which can grow to over 500lb in UK waters, was the first Simon had ever caught and his first fish over the 100lb barrier. It was released to fight another day.
