IT WEIGHS 45.5kg, it lived in a French lake and it was netted ... by a double glazing expert from Waddon.
This photo shows the largest carp caught in the history of angling and the man who proudly snared it, 57-year-old Colin Smith.
Mr Smith, of Waddon Park Avenue, was on a fishing holiday on the Etang de Saussaie – a famous carp lake in France – when he netted the monster.
The record-breaker, who has fished at the eight-acre lake on and off for ten years, was on holiday with his son Mark and four friends.
He was buoyed by winning first choice of peg – where anglers stand to fish – and spent the first day trying out some tactical moves, successfully catching two carp weighing 23.5kg and 16kg.
The next day, he caught three more bigger fish, but it was on the fourth day, April 24, that he struck gold.
Mr Smith's rod let out a high-pitched shriek as the line span out, having caught the shark-sized carp.
After toiling with the Etang de Saussaie Monster for almost half an hour, Mr Smith wrestled the carp into shore, where it was scooped up by his son Mark, 31, in a 42-inch net.
A modest Mr Smith told the Advertiser: "I broke the world record but it was still a fish at the end of the day.
"I'm not a part-time fisher and the whole reason I go is for something like this to happen.
"It's very hard to describe the feeling you get when a fish is on the end of the line but it keeps me going back to it every year.
"I didn't set my sights on catching a fish that size but we knew it was in the lake somewhere."
The protocol on the fishing lake is notoriously rigid and Mr Smith had to have his prize carp weighed before hoisting it up in his arms for a photo.
After that he had to let it go and release it back into the lake, where it swam off happily.
According to the lake's proprietors, it is not the first time the king carp has been caught – it was netted two years ago, at 40kg, by the director of a fishing tackle company.
Mr Smith, who said the catch took a total of 25 minutes, added: "My personal best before was just over half that size so it's a bit of both luck and skill.
"We took good care of the fish and put it back. I could only pick it up because of the adrenalin."
