We were trying for porbeagle sharks and had big

We were trying for porbeagle sharks and had big-game expert Roddy Hayes along with us to show us how to do it. We never caught that day but Phil took onboard everything that was advised by Roddy.Since then Phil has been bagging up shark after shark, with many porbeagles in the total. Using teasers and trolling techniques, the Padstow based fishing boat skipper has been pioneering shark fishing off of the north coast of Cornwall.Things came to a head when, on a trip with 6 other anglers, including well know angling journalists Robert Langford and Henry Gilbey, a remarkable thing happened. A tope had been boated and was about to be released when Phil saw an enormous shark only 40ft away from the boat. He called to the other anglers and they all witnessed the huge fish turn and show its flank, then it swam straight at the Blue Fox and turned again only 5ft away from the stern. Angling photographer Robert had his camera out which was set to photograph the tope but managed to take a shot or two of the giant as it swam past the stern at great speed. Robert was using a flash setting on his camera and wonders about the photographic results – we are all still waiting to see if the photos come out.Among the seven anglers who witnessed this leviathan was Mike Turner who has had commercial fishing experiences off of South Africa and is well qualified to identify and estimate the weight of the shark. Mike put it at around 1500lb. As the fish came alongside, it stretched from the stern to the wheelhouse, a distance of around 15ft. and was positively a blue pointer, or great white shark.The daily newspapers and TV picked up the story and Philís phone hasnít stopped ringing since.

Phils recent porbeagle shark captures have stunned many in the angling world who thought that he was wasting his time, but he has been catching them, lots of them. Nineteen in fact in the last few weeks, up to a staggering estimated 350lb. As with most of Philís captures, that fish was released to fight again another day. Phil has really cracked how to do it. On occasions he has even had “doubleups” where two anglers got into fighting sharks at the same time. Phil has shown that itís definitely time that the British shark angling scene re-considers our traditional sharkfishing approach. And who knows, perhaps one day off the British coast we may yet hear the cry, “Marlin on the starboard outrigger!”.