A MONSTER shark has been caught off Guernsey.

James Allen, 26, spent nearly an hour battling to reel in a record-breaking 295lb porbeagle on his first trip out for the species. ‘When we first saw it, everyone on the boat was shouting with excitement,’ he said.

The creature took hold as the 17ft Nab which he was on board with three others was about to turn home from just south of Les Hanois lighthouse.

‘It was a shock when I saw it come to the side of the boat, jaws open, big wide eyes.’

The sun was blazing and conditions were perfect when Mr Allen took over the rod at about 6pm. Just two minutes later, his balloon float went down and the line starting pulling off.

‘I was fighting for about 45 minutes. At one point, we got it to within 20ft of the boat, but it must have seen it and dived straight for the bottom, about 60m. I was just holding on and then started pulling it back in.’

They eventually got the creature under control before heading back to St Peter Port Harbour. Mike Bell was skippering the boat.

‘It’s all pretty exciting stuff to catch a fish like that on the south coast of Guernsey. Normally you would expect to go to Australia for creatures like that.’

It was late by the time they returned and nowhere was open with scales large enough to weigh the shark. At 9am the next day, the porbeagle was weighed at the Guernsey Fishermen’s Trading Company.

It came in at 296-8-6, smashing the local record that had stood for 35 years at 220lb. And it is also the largest fish caught on a rod and line in Bailiwick waters.

Mr Allen, a painter and decorator, is a keen angler from both boat and shore.

‘I don’t think I’m going to get the same thrill out of fishing for bass now.’

An alleged sighting of a great white shark in waters off Cornwall recently sparked huge media interest when it hit the front page of The Sun. While it is still disputed, experts believe it and another sighting was either a basking, porbeagle or mako shark.