Rare white shark stuns captor
Jason Gillespie (50) couldn’t believe his eyes when he battled and boated this all-white tope
He was targeting a wreck off the Isle of Wight when he latched into the rare 3ft-long shark using a squid bait intended for cod. He said:
“Some mates and I were fishing a sandbank for rays, but when the tide ebbed we moved to a deep-water wreck.
“We caught tope from the off but when it was my turn to play a fish, I looked down to see this large white shape coming towards the surface. We all said ‘what the hell is that?’”
At first Jason believed the tope was an albino, but he has since learned otherwise.
“With albino fish the eyes tend to be reddish, but this shark’s eyes were completely black,” he said.
“People I’ve talked to say it’s leucistic, a condition that causes the skin to lose pigmentation. I’ve fished all my life and never caught anything like it!”
Jason Gillespie with his very rare white top
UK coastal waters a big game paradise!
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.
Threshers are very rare in UK waters
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 Alsop and a porbeagle shark
A happy customer with another big shark
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 catch-and-release species, like you can in Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Portugal and Spain.”
Andrew Alsop and a 520lb tuna from UK waters
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
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