Jaws-ome strength: Moment shark drags fisherman overboard and capsizes kayak after 20-minute battle 


Jaws-ome strength: Moment shark drags fisherman overboard and capsizes kayak after 20-minute battle

  • Video captures the moment a porbeagle shark pulls a fisherman into the water
  • Fisherman Graham Smith, 43, had his kayak capsized by the shark off Irish coast 
  • He estimates he lost more than £400 worth of tech equipment in the incident

This is the shocking moment a shark drags a fisherman overboard off the Irish coast after a 20-minute tug-of-war. 

Fisherman Graham Smith, 43, estimates he lost more than £400 worth of equipment when his kayak overturned while battling a porbeagle shark off the coast of Donegal, Ireland on April 3.

In the video the fisherman is seen trying to reel in the 200lbs shark which is hooked onto Mr Smith’s rod after taking the bait of a large fish.

The 6ft-9ins-long shark is then seen dragging the kayak along by the fishing line and into choppy waters where Mr Smith calls for his friends in a boat to help tow him to calmer seas.

However before the fisherman can be moved to safety the shark causes a ‘swell’ which capsizes the kayak entirely leaving Mr Smith in the water with the animal.

Mr Smith, from Moville, County Donegal, said: ‘I go fishing for shark a couple of times a year off Donegal in Ireland.

‘On that particular day, it was calm inside the headland but once you got outside it was rough.

‘The porbeagle is a very clever shark. They’re notoriously difficult. About 15 to 20 minutes I’d been fighting him.’

He continued: ‘Towards the end of the fight, he took me out [to sea] where it was very bad.

‘Some lads that I know were there so I gave them a shout and said can you give me a quick tow out of this rough stuff – then I can get the shark up and let him go.

In dramatic underwater footage of the incident the shark can be seen keenly pursuing the bait with its teeth bared

 In dramatic underwater footage of the incident the shark can be seen keenly pursuing the bait with its teeth bared

Graham Smith, from Moville, County Donegal, was on a fishing trip off the coast of Donegal in Ireland when a porbeagle shark pulled him in

Graham Smith, from Moville, County Donegal, was on a fishing trip off the coast of Donegal in Ireland when a porbeagle shark pulled him in

‘But the shark caused a swell before we were ready and it just flipped the kayak.’ 

In dramatic underwater footage of the incident the shark can be seen keenly pursuing the bait with its teeth bared. 

Mr Smith is then seen fighting for control of his fishing rod as the shark drags the line behind him and over his shoulder. 

As Mr Smith is towed towards shore by the other boat the shark drags the rod into the side of the boat, tilting the kayak past the point of no return. 

In the video a shark can be seen using its brute strength to capsize Mr Smith's boat whilst hooked on his fishing line

In the video a shark can be seen using its brute strength to capsize Mr Smith’s boat whilst hooked on his fishing line

An underwater view from a camera mounted on top of the kayak shows the moment it capsized

An underwater view from a camera mounted on top of the kayak shows the moment it capsized

An unsecured kit box is then visible spilling its contents into the deep. 

The fisherman said a GoFish camera, a GoPro and his Huawei P30 mobile were among the items lost or destroyed.

‘Including the phone, it’ll be €500 (£430) I lost,’ he said.

‘Thankfully, most of the electronics are all tied on and waterproof.’

‘It’s only happened twice now in 13 or 14 years of kayak fishing. Another 15 minutes and I’d have had him up and let him go. It’s one of those things, unfortunately.’ 

Mr Smith was then able to flip his boat back over with some help from the crew who were towing him.

The shark had won this encounter. ‘I cut the line,’ he said. ‘I had to go home, I had to go to work.’ 

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