Angler catches record-breaking 565 kg shark

A Sweden-based angler has set a new world record by catching 565kg shark while fishing off Norway.

Builder Joel Abrahamsson's 15ft Greenland catch is a world record for a fish caught on rod and reel from a kayak, the Mirror reported.

The 33-year-old angler, who built up his strength for the record attempt by lifting rocks and practiced his technique by lowering 60lbs cement blocks into his local lake and then reeling them in, strapped himself into a harness that was attached to his rod to give him the extra power needed to reel in the shark.

Abrahamsson, who is from Gothenburg, used 8lbs of coalfish as bait which took 25 minutes to lower to depths of 1,600ft off the island of Andorja and took 90 minutes to reel in the shark, which is thought to be 200 years old.

Abrahamsson, who smashed the previous unofficial record of a 500lb salmon shark caught off a kayak in 2007 in Alaska, said he knew there were fish of this size, almost like dinosaurs, in Norway and that was all he needed to know to become obsessed with hooking one from a kayak.

Abrahamsson, who has been fishing all his life but there was no adventure in it anymore, added that he started kayak fishing about five years ago because he wanted to be scared.

He added that it was too difficult and too heavy at times as he had to just let go of the rod and hold on to the kayak to stop himself from falling out.

Abrahamsson described that the fighting harness was almost strangling his stomach which left him bruised, but the water was really clear and he could see the shark about 50ft under the kayak and that's when he got really scared.

The record is unofficial because it was not recorded on a certified scale.