Steve Redhead, 51, yanked his fishing rod when his line snagged in a tree — causing the 50g weight to snap back into his face.
He said: “If the weight had gone in anywhere else in my face then I could have died — I was incredibly lucky.
“I just remember catching a quick glimpse of the weight coming at me like a bullet — and then thinking it hurt a bit.” Cleaner Steve was treated in hospital in Dorchester, Dorset, after the accident as he fished for carp at a lake in nearby Osmington.
The weight was removed from his right cheek and he then went to a hospital in Poole to have 12 stitches.
Steve, of Weymouth, told the Angler’s Mail: “It won’t put me off — I will be back fishing on Sunday. I love the sport.”