Bull shark reeled in in front of Sydney Harbour Opera House before angler releases it

A brave fisherman has gone face-to-face with a massive bull shark after managing to reel it in in front of horrified tourists. 

Sydneysider and experienced angler Jordan had paddled out into the middle of the harbour in a kayak to throw an entire frozen mullet into the water to bait the shark before retreating behind the walls of the Royal Botanic Gardens to reel it in.

Onlookers passing by watched on stunned as he slowly reeled the shark close enough to shore to remove the barb from its mouth and release it in front of the Sydney Harbour Opera House.

Despite the relative ease with which Jordan caught it, bull sharks are one of the most aggressive species of shark in the world and are responsible for the highest number of fatal attacks on humans.

Jordan told Daily Mail Australia he’d never fished in the harbour before but decided to give it a shot after seeing others catch sharks of their own.

‘It took five to 10 minutes to bring the bull shark in once it took the bait and one minute to release the shark after the hook was taken out, then it swam off strong,’ he said.

‘I couldn’t really understand what the tourists around me were saying as for the language barrier but they were very intrigued with what was going on.’ 

Jordan’s iconic fishing look – including him balancing himself on the tarnished wooden pole beside him while wearing a Bunnings jumper – was embraced by people who watched the video online. 

‘Barefoot, sporting a mullet and in front of the Opera House can you get any more Aussie,’ one wrote.

The person who filmed it, who goes by Sarks Total Fishing and whose name is Sarkis, told Daily Mail Australia he’d only just met the angler catching the shark that day before offering to give him a hand.

‘I met him new there and I was fishing for other species at the time, when he landed the shark I helped him out,’ he said.

Sarkis said he’d caught plenty of Port Jackson sharks in the harbour – some as big as 1.5metres. 

Earlier this year, another fisherman named James Murray caught a monster three-metre bull shark after a 25-minute battle near the same part of the harbour.

Mr Murray tagged the beast so other anglers could monitor its growth before releasing it back to the harbour to ‘live another day’.

He also revealed how swimming in the harbour was a ‘pretty bad idea’ – particularly from December to early March when bull sharks enjoy warmer waters.

‘It could eat you alright if you go down in the water. I’d avoid it by staying out of Sydney Harbour,’ Mr Murray told 2GB.

These recent catches come after the NSW government opened up its first Sydney Harbour ‘beach’ in decades in January this year.

The netted public harbour swimming spot is located at Marrinawi Cove at the northern end of Barangaroo Reserve. 

A database collated by the Taronga Conservation Society Australia ranks bull sharks third – behind tiger and great white sharks – for the number of recorded shark attacks on humans with 148 in Australia since the 1900s.