Man reels in biggest shark ever caught in European waters while on fishing trip off coast of Ireland
The 1,500lbs beast of the deep took the bait earlier this week
A FISHERMAN has caught a monster 1,500lbs shark off the coast of Ireland - the biggest ever one to take bait in Europe.
Ben Bond, 26, spent 90 minutes struggling to reel in the deadly 25ft long sixgill shark on a fishing trip off County Clare.
The beast from the deep was eventually bought alongside the 40ft long fishing boat Ben was on and it turned out to be more than half the length.
It was impossible to heave the specimen on board but experienced boat skipper Luke Aston used the recognised formula and measuring its length and two metre girth to calculate its weight.
Builder Luke said the shark was at least 1,500lbs - 107 stone - which makes it the biggest ever caught in not only Irish waters but also in Europe.
After releasing the sixgill safe and well, exhausted Ben, from Ilchester in Somerset, made it back to port and celebrated with pint of beer.
Ben said he was "proud" to have landed such a big catch which happened on Thursday.
He said: "It was absolutely massive.
"When it first took my bait it felt like a very heavy weight. I thought it would be really hard to lift it off the bottom but the real fight was when it was in mid-water.
"After about 75 minutes I saw it near the surface and my eyes nearly popped out.
"Its tail was at one end of the boat and its head was over halfway up the boat.
"It had a big set of jaws. There have been very few attacks on humans by sixgill sharks but that's mainly because of how deep they live. I wouldn't have wanted to go into the water with it.
"I was knackered afterwards and had to have a sit down.
"Afterwards we went back to port and had a pint.
"I am still buzzing now and very proud that I have caught one of the biggest, if not the biggest sharks in Europe."
Ben was on a three day fishing trip to Carrigaholt, in Co Clare, with friend Ben Carter, who himself caught an impressive 1,000lbs sixgill shark.
The sixgill shark - Hexanchus griseus in Latin - spends much of its time in deep water and as a result has little interaction with humans, with only one reported attack in 500 years.
They feed on other fish including sharks, skates and rays, bony fish, squid and crabs. They have also been known to scavenge on dead animals such as seals.
They have razor-sharp teeth and resemble fossil sharks from the Triassic period.
For Ben's catch to be classed as an official record he would have had to have killed it so it could be weighed on land.
He said he wasn't prepared to do that, not least because sixgill sharks are a threatened species.
Skipper Luke, of the Carrigaholt Sea Angling Centre and fishandstay.com, said: "We had someone land a sixgill shark seven years ago which weighed 1,056lbs and that was the biggest ever caught in the British Isles.
"Ben's catch was much bigger than that. It was 25ft long and at least 1,500lbs.
"I am an experienced fishermen and it was easily the biggest shark I have seen."
It is the latest in a series of big shark catches in the British Isles in the last six weeks.
Last month Sam Narbett caught a 400lbs porbeagle shark off Cornwall which was then bettered Jay Oxenham, a Frank Sinatra impersonator, who snared a 450lbs porbeagle shark, also off Cornwall.