Mark's catch breaks records (From Barry And District News)

Mark's catch breaks records

A BARRY fisherman smashed the Welsh Federation Record last week when he caught an 11lb haddock.

Mark Baggot, 31, a welder from Castle Street, caught the fish off Stout Point in the Bristol Channel.

Mark said: "I caught the fish on a sand eel with my first cast of the day. I had to put up quite a fight to bring him in.

"My mate thought it was a cod because haddock is rarely found in the Bristol Channel but I thought to myself that's no cod."

Mark has only had his boat, Perfick Lark III, a 19ft Shetland, for three months.

Mark said: "I was thinking about letting him go, but I thought it might have been a record. I took it down to the Marine Biology Centre at Swansea University to have it verified and they confirmed that it was a Welsh record."

At 11lb 1oz the haddock smashed the Welsh record by 5lb and came close to beating the British record which was set 30 years ago.