One big tug from the 350lb bull shark on the other end of the line could have pulled the Sunderland fisherman overboard to certain death.

But the 57-year-old held his ground, and 45 minutes later the catch was his.

This was the first bull shark catch for Gordon, from Fulwell, who started fishing aged six when his grandad took him to the banks of the Wear.

He caught the shark – said to be more dangerous to humans than a great white – after going fishing for tarpin recently off America's Florida Keys and spotting sharks in the area.

"We didn't have a lot of luck until this fishing boat came by and gave us a dead barracuda," said Gordon.

"Sharks hate barracuda. They started banging against the side of the boat. It was a bit hairy."

Gordon hooked a 150lb lemon shark, when he saw a shadow coming up alongside.

"It was a 350lb bull shark," he said. "It just bit the lemon shark clean in half."

Kneeling on the end of the boat, with no rail to stop him from falling in, Gordon fought for 45 minutes to get the shark alongside the boat, before he released the hook and it swam away.

"I could never kill a shark, or any big fish," he said. "There are thousands killed every year, and we cannot carry on like that.

"But if I had gone off the boat and in with him, he wouldn't have thought twice about killing me. He's just an eating machine."

Gordon, who lives with his wife Freda and works for Sunderland City Council cleansing department at South Hylton, has fished across the globe.

He said that five years ago, off Monte Gordo, Portugal, he had the unofficial European record for catching a blue shark.

His 240lb catch would have smashed the 197lb record, but did not count as official because it was not killed and hang-weighed on the dock.

Gordon said his next trip will be either to the south of France or South Australia to try and catch a great white shark.

Bull shark facts:

The bull shark gets its name from its snout, which is wider than it is long.

It can live in both salt and fresh water.

It eats dolphins, turtles, rays, birds, molluscs and other sharks.

It cn grow up to 3.4metres long.

Bull sharks are more dangerous to humans than great whites because they lives in shallow, murky water in areas where people swim.

The real shark attacks on which the book and film Jaws were based were done by a bull shark.