This is the moment onlookers stand around and laugh at an unfortunate fisherman left in excruciating pain after he stepped on a hidden ring of fishing hooks and pierced his foot.

The incident happened in the city of Guangzhou city, in Guangdong, China, on July 27.

The unnamed man entered the lake to fish, wearing a life vest for buoyancy but without shoes.

As he waded through the shallow water, he accidentally stepped on a device known as a flip plate fish hook that is specialised for helping fishermen catch carp and had been left behind.

His friend, present at the scene, immediately attempted to pull the embedded flip hook from his leg but struggled to do so effectively in the water, and in the end he had to be pulled onto the shore for the device to be removed.

Nearby, other fishermen filmed the man's distress.