"We're gunna need a bigger boat!": Shocked Dewsbury anglers reel in 250lb shark

The monster shark.
The monster shark.

A huge 17 stone shark has been reeled in by a trio of Dewsbury anglers off the coast of Whitby.

The mammoth fish, believed to be a porbeagle shark, which is a cousin of the great white, was caught by the group as they fished around 15 miles out to sea.

Steve Watson, one of the anglers who helped reel in the monster shark, said: "It was incredible! They come up to the surface and swim round the boat, it's amazing to watch." But bringing the shark to the top was no easy task.

The anglers were locked in a tense battle for around 40 minutes, described by Steve as "very difficult."

He added: "They are very delicate when they take the bait but after about 30 seconds we decided to tighten the line. It took about 40 minutes to land."

He added that porbeagles look remarkably similar to great white sharks: "They look very, very much like a great white, the only way to tell the difference is by their fins - they are very, very similar."

The monster shark.

The monster shark.

Steve, along with Andy Watson and Matt Ward have been shark fishing for around three years, largely off the coast of Cornwall. But this year they decided to invest in a boat to search the North Sea where the water is slightly colder and the sharks feel more at home.

The trio, from Wakefield and Dewsbury, have bought a boat called 'Isobel' which is currently based in Whitby harbour. They plan to spend the summer exploring the North Sea for any more sightings of sharks.

Steve added: "Talking to local charter boat skippers, we think this could be the first shark caught off Whitby this year. Using special hooks which we get from USA, we were able to easily unhook the fish in the water, enabling it to swim off safely."

The group have previously caught sharks believed to be around 500lb (35 stone) and say they estimate this shark to be 250lb (17 stone). Despite their scary appearance, porbeagle sharks are not thought to be harmful to humans. They are normally found at least 10 miles out to sea and are shy creatures with no reported cases of one fatally wounding a person.