Trout of order! Angler narrowly avoids being slapped in the face by 90-pound fish which jumps over his boat
- Ben Olen was fishing with his friend Eric Bakke off the Marco Island, Florida
- Using fish sonar Olsen knew that a large school of tarpon were approaching
- Several of the six-stone fish jumped out of the water, missing him by inches
This is the incredible moment a fisherman was almost slapped across the face by a 90lb fish as it jumped over his boat and flew past just inches from his head.
Ben Olsen was leading a charter trip off Marco Island, Florida, in February when his equipment told him there was a school of tarpon swimming nearby.
As the group sat on the Gulf of Mexico, heart-stopping footage from Eric Bakke showed one of the fish – which typically weigh up to 90lb – leap out of the water.
This is the moment angler Ben Olsen, pictured left, was nearly smashed in the face by a 90lb fish which leaped over his boat off the coast of Marco Island, Florida
Olsen knew the fish were approaching because he was tracking them on his boat’s sonar
Fortunately for the angler, the fish never made contact as it could have caused him an injury
The fish cleared the boat and returned to the water following its dramatic jump
The athletic fish shot past Olsen’s eyes, in what could have been a catastrophic collision.
Moments later the fish was back in the water on the opposite side of the boat, while a relieved Olsen turned to Bakke and excitedly asked if he’d caught the incident on his GoPro.
Incredible slow motion footage shows the giant creature’s green and silver body sail past Olsen’s head with impressive clarity – with its huge tail almost slapping him across the face.
Olsen, who owns Thorne Bros tackle shop, said: ‘I was lucky it didn’t hit me. This fish was five feet long and probably weighed 90lbs, plus their heads are solid bone, so if it had hit me it would have hurt. It would have been a bad day for sure.
‘I’ve been fishing my whole life and working in the industry for 15 years and have never had this happen to me before.
Ben Olsen, pictured, said tarpon are renowned for leaping out of the water. He said they can weigh up to 90lbs (six stone)
‘Fish have jumped into the boat before, like barracuda, but I’ve never had one fly past my face like this.
‘Tarpon do jump regularly – we call it free jumping. They will jump around the boat quite a lot so I knew what had happened.
‘But it just happened so quickly. It flew really quickly just inches past my face. I was leaning back in my chair so was lucky I was sitting any further forward.
‘I was just so excited that we managed to catch it on Eric’s GoPro. I was excited to see what had actually happened, rather than just seeing both splashes.
‘They are the ultimate catch and release fish. They’re just so strong you only have them on the line for a few minutes before you have to let them go.
‘This was right at the start of the trip and these were the first tarpon we had encountered and there was between eight and ten of them.’