WATCH: Black Country angler nets ‘monster’ 102lb carp
What a catch! A Black Country man has become the fourth British angler in history to catch a carp weighing over 100lb.
Luke Vanes, who comes from Coseley, made the astounding catch in Euro Aqua lake in Nemesvita, Hungary and joins the likes of Colin Smith, Steve Weir and Warren Harrison who each caught a fish weighing over 100lbs.
Mr Vanes, a carp fisherman, said the 102lb mirror carp was a 'monster' and that he struggled to lift it out of the water.
WATCH angler bag huge catch:
He said: "It was a bit of a creature – a monster. It's a magnificent thing in fishing, just to witness it. It's an honour to see a fish of that size. It was a beautiful thing to see.
"I've been fishing for seven days and I think it was last Tuesday at 1.30pm when I caught it. It has been the highlight of my year and of my fishing career.
"It was proper back-breaking to lift, too. It was like lifting two bags of potatoes. A very heavy thing because normally you hold a fish up with your arms. This time I had to put my arms around its belly and left it with my back. It was a very powerful fish."
"I've been coming out here for the past six years to chase some big fish and I've caught 60lbs and 70lbs carp but it's the first time I've caught one this big.
"We cast our lines from the bank and reel it in of the bank as well.
"The alarm went off and it was just a steady pull on the line which is usually a big fish and it felt like a dead-weight, It was a heavy fish and it plodded about for about 10 minutes as I tried to pull it in.
"I saw the size of the fish and thought at first that it was an 80lbs carp. We got it in a sling and it felt heavier than 80lbs. we put it on the scales and found it it was 102lbs.
"My personal best was a 73lb carp and that was from the same venue.
"I'm extremely proud and it's one of the best experiences I will ever ever have."
Mr Vanes also revealed his set-up for catching the magnificent fish.
The carp fisherman used a 13-foot Shimano Tribal TX Ultra Rod, a Shimano Aero Technium XTC MGS 14000 reel and a Gardner GT-HD 15lbs line.
He used a helicopter set up with an IQ D-rig with a snowman presentation and used bait from the lake called Aqua Diamonds.
The 35-year old, who has been fishing for 20 years, said he fished in Italy the week before with his fishing partner Luke Edwards from Codsall who filmed the footage of Mr Vanes lifting the fish.
The pair made their way up to Hungary to Euro Aqua lake in the hopes of catching a big fish.
Mr Vanes said: "The week before I was fishing in Italy at Parco del Brenta, where I caught 82 fish weighing around 50lbs. From there we both travelled up to Hungary to see what we could catch.
"We come to this park once a year. I've been fishing or 20 years and Luke has been fishing for 25 years.
"I love being out on the bank relaxing, sending time out from work and trying to catch big fish. There's a couple of fish bigger than this in the lake so I'm coming back here in June and December next year so who knows."
The fish was dropped back into the lake after Mr Vanes took a photograph with it for his scrapbook.
