'He just smashed me:' Fisherman attacked by shark off Queensland coast

A fisherman has described the moment a three-metre shark charged at him while he was fishing off Queensland's south-east coast.

WARNING: Graphic images below

Rodney Forster had taken his boat off the coast of Redcliffe, just north of Brisbane, yesterday when he jumped into the water to untangle a net from his propeller.

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It's then he said a three-metre tiger shark launched into him, leaving him with significant bite wounds on his leg.

Mr Forster said he feels lucky to be alive.

"It happened that quick, he just smashed me into the keel of the boat. It hit me, felt like a shoulder charge you didn't see coming," he said.

Mr Forster was pulled from the water by a fellow fisherman, initially unaware of his injuries.

"I just thought, 'Get me out of the water before it gets me,'" he said.

"Lucky they were at the back of the boat and they pulled me straight out."

The incident has occurred just a day after a Sydney swimmer lost his life in a great white shark attack, the first shark-related fatality in the city in almost 60 years.

Whilst shark attacks are typically rare, tiger sharks are considered one of the most dangerous species to humans due to their aggression and tendency to attack unprovoked.

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Mr Forster said while he initially laughed his experience off, the reality of the situation soon hit.

"My cousins told me they didn't think sharks liked cockroaches. I was wearing my footy shorts at the time, maybe that was it," he said, referring to the NSW Origin team.

Mr Forster's leg wounds have been bandaged up and he will return to work next Wednesday.

He is now hoping to raise awareness of what can happen when out on the ocean and is warning others to be shark aware.

"It could have been much worse," Mr Forster said.

"It was a good outcome in the end."