Heart-stopping moment shocked fisherman accidentally reels in massive GREAT WHITE SHARK off New Jersey

THIS is the heart-stopping moment a stunned fisherman reeled in a 7ft great white shark.

Captain Jeff Warford was fishing for common thresher sharks on a trip just one mile off the coast of New Jersey, USA.

But he had a fight on his hands when he hooked into the giant great white off Seaside Pier in with first mate Jake Bowles and angler Ilan Shemesh.

Jeff said: "This time of year thresher sharks are very common along the beach as they are migrating and chasing schools of bunker, or baitfish.

"We were in 50ft of water when the rod went off and started screaming line off the reel.

"I thought, 'here we go boys, this is our thresher'.

"Fifteen minutes into the fight I got a glimpse of the shark and knew it wasn't a thresher.

"At this point I still had no idea it was a great white.

"Ten or fifteen minutes later we got the fish closer to the boat and I said, 'oh my God, it's a great white'.

"This was the first time I've ever seen or caught a great white. I've been fishing for 35 years and professionally fishing since 2014."

Captain Jeff, from Reel Innovation Sportfishing, estimates the huge fish was approximately seven feet long and 120 pounds in weight.

The shark was released and swam away unharmed after the encounter last Sunday.

Eight men and one woman, aged between 17 and 63, have been killed by sharks in 2020.

Out of those nine, seven have died in Australia alone - the country's highest number in 86 years.

The two fatalities outside of Australia occurred in the US, in California and Maine.

Experts however insist shark attacks remain rare and the figures are roughly in line with previous numbers over the last decade.