A kayaker was "lucky not to be knocked into the water" after an 8-foot-long shark rammed into the side of his boat while trying to steal his fish.

Quentin Turko was fishing off Outer Banks, North Carolina, US, in April when he got into a battle with a 45lb redfish.

Dramatic footage shows the 24-year-old’s catch suddenly being circled by a bull shark who lunged at the fish clearly hoping for an easy meal.

Quentin managed to keep the redfish out of the circling predator’s jaws but in doing so the shark turned and rammed into his yellow kayak, mere inches away from his leg.

Professional surfer Quentin said: “I was in disbelief that it was happening. I never thought the shark would’ve rammed into the kayak inches away from me like this.

“After it was over, I realised just how lucky I was not to get knocked into the water. This is the closest shark encounter I’ve had while kayak fishing.

“The fight with the redfish lasted about 10 minutes. I caught a glimpse of the shark, so I stood up, grabbed my GoPro with one hand and kept fighting the fish with my other.

“I was able to keep the fish away from the shark and after I ended the video I was able to safely land the fish which was unharmed.”

A kayaker was ‘lucky not to be knocked into the water’ after an eight-foot-long shark rammed into the side of his boat while trying to steal his fish.

Quentin Turko was fishing off Outer Banks, North Carolina, USA, in April when he got into a battle with a 45lb redfish.

Dramatic footage shows the 24-year-old’s catch suddenly being circled by a bull shark who lunged at the fish clearly hoping for an easy meal.

Quentin managed to keep the redfish out of the circling predator’s jaws but in doing so the shark turned and rammed into his yellow kayak, mere inches away from his leg.

Professional surfer Quentin said: “I was in disbelief that it was happening. I never thought the shark would’ve rammed into the kayak inches away from me like this.

“After it was over, I realised just how lucky I was not to get knocked into the water. This is the closest shark encounter I’ve had while kayak fishing.

“The fight with the redfish lasted about 10 minutes. I caught a glimpse of the shark, so I stood up, grabbed my GoPro with one hand and kept fighting the fish with my other.

“I was able to keep the fish away from the shark and after I ended the video I was able to safely land the fish which was unharmed.”