Flounder angler Gerald Taplin got more than he bargained for during a session on Walton Pier when a record rocking 51lb stingray picked up his his ragworm rig and head south at a rate of knots.

Yet despite only fishing size 1 hooks on a two hook paternoster rig and 15lb line, he managed to tame the fish and get it into a fellow angler’s landing net!

The Broxbourne, Herts angler had already landed his first ever stingray weighing about 6lb earlier in the session. It had taken squid fished on his heavier rod.

Then at about 5.30am he got a small bite on his light rod, struck, and watched as 75 yards of 15lb line was torn from his Abu 6500 Mag Elite reel.

The fish fought like a tiger for 15 minutes before a fellow angler managed to sqeeze it into his small landing net. After weighing and photographing, the fish was returned.

Stingray are not all that uncommon off the south coast in summer and autumn. They prefer sandy bottoms and can inflict a painful wound with their long barbed, whip like tail – hence the name.

The British shore caught stingray record stands at 54lb 9oz 6dr, caught off Fairbourne, Gwynedd in 1991.

Stinray