Sharks, Sydney: Astonishing moment 15-year-old Mosman fisherman reels in bull shark

A teenage angler snagged a 2.8metre bull shark in Sydney Harbour – less than a week after a British expat was mauled by a great white at a beach.

Addison Hodge, 15, was fishing with friends on Saturday aboard a boat at Middle Harbour on Sydney’s north shore. 

The boy first caught a much smaller fish called a Frigate Mackerel before he released it back into the water.

Moments later he felt a sharp pull on the fishing line and spent the next 45 minutes battling to reel in the bull shark.

‘I had so much adrenaline running through my body,’ he said.

‘It was incredible to see the bull shark up close. They are nothing like the ones you see at the Sydney Aquarium that’s for sure.’

Footage of the impressive catch uploaded to local site Mosman Collective shows Addison locked in an intense game of tug-of-war with the powerful creature.

Addison spent the next 45 minutes battling to reel in the bull shark as he was urged on by his friends

The 15-year-old schoolboy is seen posing with the shark after his epic battle in Middle Harbour

The fishing line bends almost to breaking point as Addison rocks back and forth, trying to pull in the well-sized specimen while directing the person at the wheel of the boat to keep it straight.

His excited friend encourages him off-camera and continues to cheer him on.

‘What a snag,’ Addison says, wiping perspiration from his forehead. 

Addison manages to reel in the apex predator to the side of the boat. Its sheer size stuns the fishermen onboard.

‘It’s huge!’ one says as they note the shark is tagged.

Addison’s catch came three days after Simon Nellist, a former RAF engineer who survived two tours of Afghanistan, died in front of horrified beachgoers at Sydney’s Little Bay beach when he was taken by a 4.5metre great white shark. 

His death occurred just weeks before ‘smart’ drum lines were reportedly due to be installed which could have prevented the tragedy.

Family members said the nature-loving Mr Nellist, 35, would have been against the hunting of sharks.

Simon Nellist, a former RAF engineer who had toured Afghanistan, died in front of horrified beachgoers at Sydney’s Little Bay beach when he was taken by a 4.5metre great white shark on February 16

‘He swam with sharks before. This isn’t the first time he’s gone out and seen them but he would still go out swimming. That’s brave,’ his aunt Jacqui Seager, 62, said.

‘I don’t think he ever thought they would hurt him. Sadly, this time it managed to get to him.

‘It’s absolutely horrendous. We are all in shock.’

A large bull shark was also spotted swimming in Lake Orr at suburban Varsity Lakes on the Gold Coast on Friday. 

The artificial lake near Bond University has been the site of several sightings of the species in recent years.