AN experienced British fisherman was left terrified after a shark clamped its jaws around his foot and bit a hole in his boat.

The 2.1-m porbeagle took hold of Hamish Currie’s steel-toe-capped boot after his crew caught it and hauled it on to the deck of their vessel.

Currie, 53, managed to free himself with the help of one of his crew, but was left shaken by the experience.

The skipper targeted the shark after hearing reports of it attacking seals off Islay in the Inner Hebrides.

Currie said: “A friend got in touch to tell me about the shark because I specialize in that style of fishing.

“I took a crew of three up there to look for it because it had been attacking seals in the area.”

Currie, from Saltcoats, Ayrshire, tried to hook the porbeagle after the crew tracked it down Wednesday.

They aimed to tag the fish, which is a member of the Great White family, and release it back into the water as usual.

However, the angry predator gnawed a hole in the crew’s boat, and thrashed around as it was pulled onboard.

“This one was a bad, bad fish,” Currie said.

“He was nasty and got me by the foot. Luckily I was wearing steel-toe-capped boots.

“I just couldn’t shake him off, but eventually one of my crew managed to help me free.

“It was quite terrifying.”

Currie, who has vast experience with catching sharks, said this was his closest call to date.

“I was very lucky this time. It has definitely made me a little bit more wary of them.”

Currie has previously skippered a boat when angler Andy Logan set a record for the biggest common skate caught in the Irish Sea — 2 kg off the British record.

The skate measured an incredible 2.44 meters long by 1.83 meters wide and weighed in at a mighty 101 kg.

The 4.5 ton boat was pulled 3.2 kilometers out to sea by the catch. It was only when Currie was forced to reverse the boat that the fish came to the surface and was heaved on board by three men.

(SD-Agencies)