Fishers tussle with shark after reeling in shock catch at Perth beach: 'I didn't expect anything as big as that'

A fisherman has snagged the catch of a lifetime as beachgoers watched on.

The Perth man reeled in a 2.5-metre shark at Quinns Beach in the city's northern suburbs on Wednesday night.

"I didn't expect anything as big as that on a beach so close to me," witness Stefan Short told 9News.

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"The firmness and the girth of the shark. It was just unbelievable."

Amazed onlookers watched as beachgoers wrestled with the 300kg shark, before they waded into the surf to help it swim back out to sea.

After struggling for several minutes, finally freedom for the 300 kilo beast, who swam back into the open ocean.

"It was amazing to see," bystanders said.

While another commented on the unexpected allies as brave beach goers rushed to the shark's aid.

"If it came up and attacked you that would be a different kettle of fish," one woman said.

The scare didn't deterred eager swimmers coming down to the same beach on Thursday - plenty of people soaking up the sun on this 38°C day, even though the released predactor could still be lurking in nearby waters.

This is not the first time a shark has washed up onto shore in Perth.

Back in 2019, beachgoers rescued a struggling shark that washed ashore at Quinns Rock.

The distressed shark was seen thrashing in the shallow water while opening and closing its mouth.

At least seven men helped push the shark back into the ocean.