Angling trio's hammerhead the 'catch of a lifetime'

A trio of anglers in the US who reeled in a large hammerhead shark snuggled up to the big fish before they let it swim off into the sunrise.

Cullem Guthrie, Maison Rosanti and Nick Manzari were using a stingray as bait when they hooked the 4m predator off Florida's Sanibel Island late last month.

After a 30 minute battle they managed to haul the creature into the shallows, where they posed for a few happy snaps before cutting it loose.

"And he swam off beautifully on his own power, just swam away with his big dorsal fin out the water, on the sunrise," the ebullient Mr Rosanti told WINK-TV.

"It was absolutely amazing."

Mr Guthrie was of the same mind.

"They're beautiful creatures and people don't really understand how big and how great and how strong these animals actually are," he said, describing the catch as the "fish of a lifetime".

"It's a great feeling to bring something like that in. It's a huge accomplishment."