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Giant landed after 40-minute battle

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NICK Helleur has revealed his new Thames-record 50lb 12oz carp (right) fought so hard it pulled his boat off its anchor!

The experienced angler also told Carpfeed that he was physically sick when he realised what was nestling in the bottom of his net after an epic 40-minute battle,

Speaking to AT soon after the capture, Nick said: “It’s still sinking in, if I’m honest. I feel I’ve been rewarded for keeping the faith in this style of fishing. I’m just really happy.”

Nick targeted the fish – the first 50 ever publicised from the Thames – on a stretch of the middle river from his cabin cruiser. Recalling the capture, Nick said: “At about 10pm I heard a big slosh and all the coots went wild. It was the early hours when I had the take – which was very fast, like a take from a tuna.

“The fight was a complete nightmare – it pulled so hard it pulled the boat off its rear anchor on the marginal shelf.

“The weed has just started to break up and I was having to put the rod down and pull handfuls of rotting streamer weed off the line – but sometimes your name’s on a fish, and my name was on this one. It was an absolute beast of a fight that lasted 40 minutes or more.” After eventually landing the incredible creature, Nick revealed that the realisation of what was nestling in his net hit him hard.

“I was actually sick,” he said. “My heart was racing. A 30lb river carp is a huge fish. A 50-pounder is just something else entirely. It’s the rarest thing you will ever see. It’s a living dinosaur.”

Nick had been fishing the area for three months and had baited heavily with peanuts flavoured with half a kilo of hot chilli powder per bucket, and lots of salt, plus glugged Sticky Krill boilies.