Fisherman Paul Stevens caught a massive 83lb cod off the coast of Norway
But then his friend Bert Williams caught a 93lb beast the following day
Experts say once-threatened species is thriving in Scandinavian waters
Two British fisherman are celebrating today after landing two of the biggest cod ever caught.
Paul Stevens was overjoyed with his monster 83lbs catch in the sea off Norway.
But then his fisherman friend Bert Williams battered it the next day with a 93lbs beast – the biggest cod ever caught by a British angler.
His catch is still 10lbs off the world record but experts believe it is only a matter of time before the title is taken as the once-threatened species is now thriving in Scandinavian waters.
Monster of the sea: Paul Stevens was overjoyed with his incredible 83lbs catch in the sea off Norway
Bert Williams battered his friend’s catch the next day with a 93lbs beast – the biggest cod ever caught by a British angler
Bert reeled in his five foot-long catch after a frantic 20 minute battle off Soroya, Norway.
The 71-year-old, from the Wirral, Merseyside, said he thought he had snared a whale to begin with.
He said: ‘I’ve never felt anything like it before. As soon as it caught my bait it pulled 20 metres of line from my reel – the only time that has happened before is when I got snagged on a boat propeller.
‘When I’d recovered I saw there was so much air coming up out of the water I thought it was some kind of whale, it was just so big. It took two men to get in in the boat.’
It was not just plucky Brits who struck it big as Norwegian guide Johan Mikkelson also caught an 89lb cod
The friends think the abundance of cod in the waters is due to a ban on catching capelin – as the cod’s mouths are overflowing with capelin when they are reeled in
‘It was absolutely enormous, I couldn’t believe it was real. Even though it was 10lbs bigger than mine I was delighted for him.
‘I think we are going to have a world record soon because the cod there are just gorging themselves.
‘I think it is because of a ban on catching capelin which is their main source of food, their mouths are overflowing when we pull them in.’
It was not just plucky Brits who struck it big as Norwegian guide Johan Mikkelson also caught an 89lb cod.
Tom Ascott, 32, from Dorset, hauled in the world record shore-caught cod earlier this month, which weighed an incredible 66lb 8oz
The monster catches came after William Irving, of west Wales, landed a 70lb 5oz cod in the same stretch of water.
And they follow the world record breaking exploits of Dorset man Tom Ascott, 32, who hauled in the world record shore-caught cod earlier this month, which weighed an incredible 66lb 8oz and was gifted to Norwegian locals.
The UK cod record stands at 58lbs 6ozs.
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