Another monster haul as Penn angler lands milestone

The 61-year-old from Penn has recently chalked up a double century of fish weighing over 100lbs.

Hodgkinson, who only took up the sport in his 30s, achieved the feat during a trip to Thailand.

The father of three made the journey having bagged 170 100lb-plus fish and had expected to take another few years to reach the magical 200.

But the 17-day venture to the Far East proved to be hugely successful with Hodgkinson catching a staggering 111 fish – 31 of which were over 100lbs – that weighed an estimated 3.2 tonnes in total.

"Having reached 150 fish at100lbs a few years ago, catching 200 was my next target," said Hodgkinson.

"I thought it would take me another three or four years, but I actually caught 31 weighing over 100lbs and I am up to 201 now."

"An arapaima weighing 260lbs was the biggest I caught and it took me about 40 minutes to land.

"It can sometimes take an hour-and-a-half to land them because they are so big, eight foot long, and they fight like hell. I got slapped in the face by a tail and it almost took my head off. You have to use special cages to land them."

An just for good measure, Hodgkinson added another unofficial world record to his collection when he snared a 150lb Salween Rita catfish

"I wasn't sure what type of fish it was, to be honest," he said. "We took some photographs and the local guide sent them off and we found out it was a salween rita catfish.

"It weighed 150lbs and I believe it's an unofficial world record for that type of fish."

Since getting hooked on angling nearly 30 years ago, Hodgkinson has spent the last 17 tears travelling the world in search of monster fish.

The biggest he has landed is a 1,000lb-plus sawfish, which measured 21feet, during a trip to America.

He is fast approaching 100 excursions to Europe, Asia, America and Canada and reckons his globetrotting hobby has cost in excess of £150,000.

His first 100lb fish was caught 16 years ago on the River Ebro in Spain, where he also holds the record weight. He also bagged four other unofficial world records and a world record shark-toothed catfish.

And another moment to savour came on the River Elbro when he helped the England carp team win the world championships in 2015.

Hodgkinson, who was diagnosed with prostrate cancer in 2017, is now planning to cut down on his far away ventures.

"I want to carry on fishing as long as I can, but I'm having a break from the monster fishing now and will concentrate on carp fishing in Europe for a while," he added.

"I am planning to go to Italy in May and September and Spain in October.

"I have been suffering with prostrate cancer for three years, but having these trips to look forward to helps keep me going when I have a bad day.

"It takes it out of you landing the monster fish. The adrenaline is pumping while you are out there fishing but you start to feel it when you return home.

"Some people give up but it's something I am living with and it hasn't stopped me doing what I enjoy. I just urge all men to get themselves checked out."