Mr Richards, a support worker for people with learning difficulties, turned down an offer of £50 from a local fishmonger and has been eating the fish with his wife Emma, 33, and daughters Jade, 14, and five-year-old Amber.

He said: "It was my first cod of the day and I couldn't believe the size of it.

"It was a struggle to get it up through the depths let alone onto the kayak which just about took the weight of it.

"I was at it for about ten minutes and it was pretty tough work.

"But it managed to tire itself out and that's when I took my chance. In the end it was like pulling a dead weight.