Brit fisherman reels in the world’s biggest carp weighing SIXTEEN stone in Thailand
Tim Webb, 57, landed the enormous Siamese carp after an exhausting 90 minute battle
A BRITISH angler has caught the world's biggest carp - and he liked it so much that he bought it to take home.
Tim Webb, 57, landed the enormous Siamese carp which weighed 222lbs after an exhausting 90 minute battle at a lake in Ban Pong, Thailand.
The fisherman, who owns his own fishery in Thailand, lured the carp onto his line using a simple bait of bread and bran rice before engaging in the gruelling battle.
He said there were a couple of challenging moments when he thought he'd lost out but perseverance paid off in the end.
After being hauled to land, the giant carp tipped the scales at almost 16 stone.
It smashed the previous record for a Siamese carp by over 70lbs.
Tim, originally from Crawley, West Sussex, needed help from two fellow anglers to pose for a picture with the trophy carp.
He was so fond of his catch that he decided to buy it from the lake and put into his own fishery, Palm Tree Lagoon, which is about 25 miles away.
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He laid a tarpaulin down in the back of a pickup truck, filled it with water and, with the help of six people, hoisted the carp in the back.
It was then wrapped in a wet blanket and lifted into Tim's 3.5 acre lake, which attracts thousands of British anglers each year.
Siamese carp are the biggest species of carp in the world and they are found naturally in river basins in Asia.
Tim's catch dwarfed the 150lbs record specimen caught by Brit Andy Harman in Thailand earlier this year.
It was also more than three times the size of the biggest carp ever caught in Britain which was by angler Tom Doherty who reeled in a 70lbs specimen in Shropshire just two weeks ago.
Tim said: "It's an amazing feeling to reel in a fish that is well over the world record.
"As soon as I felt it on the end of my line I knew I had something special.
"I had to fight it hard for a long time because in effect I was reeling in a small car.
"There were one or two hairy moments but I managed to bring it to the bank. I was elated but shattered afterwards."
Tim agreed with the owner of the lake to buy the record carp but would not disclose how much he paid for it, although it is thought to be several thousands of pounds.
He added: "It was amazing to actually take it away with me and put it in my own lake.
"Having a fish of that size generates a lot of interest, people will want to come and have a go at trying to catch it."
Despite smashing the world record, Tim said he would not submit the claim to the International Game Fish Association as they do not accept records from stocked waters.