Angler's 18 months of training for 'surreal' catch

An angler who caught a massive 105lb (47.5kg) common carp said 18 months of preparation went into the "surreal" moment.

David Knock, an insurance broker from Billericay, Essex, was on holiday with friends at Euro Aqua carp farm in Hungary when he made the heavyweight catch, which has been described as a world record.

"You couldn't dream it, it was unbelievable," he told the BBC.

Mr Knock said he had trained in local fields near his home and practised long-range fishing using new reels, new rods and a corner flag "from the old football days", to develop his technique for "hours and hours".

The carp, which weighed the equivalent of a 13-year-old child, is said by fishing publication Angling Times to have beaten the previous world record by 1lb (450g).

Mr Knock said it was 1.2m (47in) in length and 42cm (17in) wide.

"It was a proper effort it took to get it up to the cameras and I only held it for a few seconds initially, because the actual shock of holding it was immense," he added.

"I've never felt anything like it. It's like holding up a 50kg bag of cement - you can't hold it at arm's length.

"I cuddled that carp."

Mr Knock said his son had remarked: "Well you've completed carp fishing now, what are you going to do?"

"I said to him, 'I absolutely haven't'. Some are lovely looking, some are harder to catch," Mr Knock laughed.

"There's still room for improvement, albeit very unlikely."

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