Tom had just struck into a large common carp and when he started playing it, in an attempt to tire the fish out and make it easier to bring in, the line snapped when the fish shot off to the other side of the lake and this resulted in Tom’s float catapulting back 18ft – embedding itself Tom’s chest.

Speaking about the incident Tom said: “The hook pulled out and the float catapulted out and hit me straight in the chest. At first I didn’t realise what had happened and started looking behind me for the float. It’s only when I looked down and saw it sticking out of my chest and at the patch of blood spreading over my shirt that I knew the float had hit me. I tried to pull it out but the end snapped off and about three-and-a-half inches stayed in me. I began struggling for breath and could hear bubbling which was the air rushing out of my lung where the float had pierced it.”

Tom’s dad Graham, aged 54, drove his son to the local hospital where he had three x-rays and a CT scan. Surgeons finally removed the float before they drained the fluid that had flooded his lungs. Tom had to stay in hospital for four days before he was allowed back home and said even though it was a strange thing to happen, it won’t put him off fishing, saying: “I’ll be back out there on Sunday – my dad reckons I should wear body armour but I’ll take my chances.”

Angler Ray Smee, aged 55 from Merston, Surrey, was unaware of what had happened, instead thinking an old ribcage injury had flared up again after he had stumbled on the bank. Despite the splintering pain in his chest he soldiered on through the five hour match and came out 100 carp better off than when he started, landing himself a second place finish and a £75 prize fund.
After the weigh-in, he decided to drive himself to hospital “just as a precaution”. He was shocked to learn that after a few tests, nurses said he had suffered a heart attack and needed two operations to save his damaged lung.

Speaking about the ordeal Ray said: “I didn’t feel particularly well at the time of the competition. I had a tightness and pain in my chest and tingling in the palms of my hands. I suppose it was probably the adrenaline which carried me through — I just really wanted to be fishing. I was really pleased with how I did. I came second and won £75. I am just pleased that I didn’t drop down dead!”

“Two-Tone” as it was known to anglers weighed in at a whopping 67lbs 14oz and was found floating on the surface of Conningbrook Lake in Ashford. He was thought to have been around 40–45 years old and has been caught a number of different times by various anglers. You may be thinking; “Why is a fish called Two-Tone?” Well, it is what is known as a Mirror Carp and they have a number of larger scales that shimmer and shine in the water (looking a bit like mirrors) and when they are out of the water they are either a darker or a lighter colour than the normal scales on the fish.

Speaking about the death of the fish, Chris Logsdon, 62, who is the manager of Mid Kent fisheries, said: “The fish was wily and difficult to catch. Any carp angler worth their salt wanted to catch him and a lot tried and failed. It’s part of fishing history.”

The fish will be buried on Sunday morning next to his beloved lake where he made it such hard work for anglers to catch him and there will be a plaque put up to remember him by.

Ah well, let’s just hope he’s gone to a better plaice…

Guy used to make a living out of taking tourists out to sea for a spot of mackerel fishing, not carp fishing unfortunately, off the coast of Dartmouth in Devon. He’d venture out daily on his 80-year-old fishing boat and one day set sail from the harbour.

He came back eight years later on a £100 million super yacht!

He left his fishing life behind to go and work for John Risley, the owner of seafood giant Clearwater Seafoods, which have the largest fishing fleet in North America and Canada, and whilst out there working on one of the business mogul’s boats he met the man’s daughter, Sarah, also aged 35.

The pair fell in love straight away and married last Friday in Canada in a place called Nova Scotia before they began their epic journey back to Devon for their wedding reception on Tuesday.

Ironic how Mr. Barnett went out everyday fishing for a fortune and then one day left to fish further a field for a fortune and ended up marrying into one. Well, as they say, there’s plenty of fish in the sea…

The youths are said to have caught a carp from one of the decorative ponds within the gardens of the castle and attacked the young boy and his carers. Thankfully nobody was injured.  The attackers are still on the run but one of the groundskeepers has spoken about how the “sickening” attack is just an example of how things have started to go down-hill in the last year or so in the Japanese gardens.

Groundsman Chris Murray, aged 58, said how the gardens of the castle have become a bit of a ‘hotspot for teenage drinking’ which had in turn led to an increase in vandalism and general loutish behaviour. How would you like to be taking a leisurely stroll through the grounds of this beautiful castle to be savagely attacked by a group of youths with a live fish?!

Murray also said how a number of youths from the surrounding areas “have got wind of Lauriston Castle as a place to hang out, drink, smoke cannabis and trash the place.”

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but we thought this was such a crazy bit of news, it required mentioning!

The stats are based on sea fishing and not course fishing, so don’t panic too much if your fishing activities are limited to a spot of leisurely carp fishing with your dad – unless you can’t swim! But in all seriousness, it’s not like being stuck out in the freezing cold Atlantic ocean with high winds and driving rain.

These findings were not far off when a survey was carried out in 2002 by researchers at Oxford University and they found that you are up to 50 times more likely to die while working out at sea than those people in other jobs. In fact you’re far safer being a member of the fire brigade, the police and even the army! The main cause of death while out at sea was found to be death by drowning but there were a sizeable number of deaths caused from asphyxiation and injury.

So if you want to go and catch a few carp, you’re much safer sticking to your local ponds and pits than venturing out into the sea to get your fish!

The aim is to change the stereotypical view of carp fishing and angling, which is that it is mainly a “white man’s” sport and try to get more young Asian’s involved in the sport. The young Muslim lads took part in some angling sessions over two days which were held by the ‘Get Hooked on Fishing’ scheme at Bradshaw’s fisheries.

The coordinator for ‘Get Hooked on Fishing’ Bridget Dawson said: “The two days were really successful. The lads overcame their fears about fishing and handling bait, and we are really pleased that they want to come back and do more in the future.”

She continued: “I feel we have gone some way to breaking the stereotypical image of angling being a white, male dominated sport as we have a Muslim group being taught by a female coach and her colleagues.”

One of the youngsters who took part, Rizwan Buchiya an 18 year old Bolton sixth Form College stuent said: “It was good, it was a new experience and I would like to pass on the skills I have learnt. Fishing is not a regular thing in the Asian community so it was good to do something different.”

The 31 year old man, who has remained unnamed was carp fishing with two friends at a local fishing haunt known as “the puddle” near Gartloch Road, Easterhouse in Glasgow when the incident took place. He is now said to be in hospital in a stable condition.

Police have said that the suspect is white, aged between 20 and 30 with a thin build and he wore dark clothing, a dark jacket with grey panels and possibly a baseball cap. Police are urging anyone with any information or anyone who may have seen someone matching the description of the suspect to come forward.

“There appears to be no clear motive for this violent attack and it is vital we trace the man responsible” said Det. Con. Colin Hailstones of Strathclyde Police.

You wouldn’t like to be randomly, maliciously attacked whilst on a fishing trip with a few of your mates, so if anyone has any information police are urging anyone to come forward.

It’s thugs like these that we need to rid our streets of, you don’t want your children to be going out with their friends for the day fishing and getting randomly attacked.

Kevin Mann, from Barford, near Norwich, Norfolk, lost all 17 of their “home-reared” Koi Carp; some of which were 23-years-old. He said: “I’d hand-reared these fish for over 20 years. I’m heartbroken.”

Talking about her findings and the remains of the fish that were dragged from the pond, Kevin’s wife had this to say: “Some of the Koi carp were so large that otters couldn’t drag them all the way back to wherever they had come from.

“I found the carcasses of two on the verge just down the street from our garden. The poor things had been dragged down the road.

“It was heartbreaking to see them in such a state because they were part of our family and we loved them.”

The couple said that they have heard of three other similar cases within their local area, and the Angling Trust has warned that a similar thing is happening all over the country. It has also been reported that otters have destroyed some very prized, treasured stocks of Koi Carp that have been worth up £25,000.

Indiana announced their fencing plans earlier in the month but there have been a few stumbling blocks in the way of settling on a design. This was finally agreed on Tuesday and has been given a date of “later in the summer” when it will be erected.

All this has stemmed from biologists saying that they fear the insatiable carp, which have been to known to reach 4ft in length and some up to 100lbs, could reach the Great Lakes and destroy their $7billion a year fishing industry by starving out the native fish and other species that are resident in the lakes.

People are saying how the smaller carp would be able to fit through the gaps in the fencing, but Phil Bloom a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said: “Those small fish aren’t able to battle that kind of current at their young age, so we don’t expect them to be in that area, our concern isn’t the small fish—it’s adult fish of spawning age.”