Brit boy catches pirahna

When keen young angler Josh Boyle felt a pull on his rod, he was expecting the usual roach or rudd.

The 14 year old schoolboy had been fishing since the age of two and regularly visited a local beauty spot near his home in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

But Josh was not prepared for what he found on the end of his fishing rod - a 3Ib red bellied South American piranha.

Despite the shock, he managed to reel in his terrifying catch, and held in in a towel, to protect his fingers from the lethal razor sharp teeth.

Josh, who had been fishing for four hours before landing the piranha, said: "I recognised what it was straight away, so I wrapped it in a towel so it couldn’t bite me."

"I was really shocked, but I was excited too - as I have never caught anything like it. I have been fishing since I was two, and I’ve seen lots of pictures of piranhas before, so I knew what it was."

Josh, who is a member of the Prince Albert Angling Society, which has 8,000 members and is one of the leading angling clubs in Europe, landed his catch with just a spinner on his rod, which imitates a small fish.

He said: "I’d been already fishing for four hours and I’ve caught plenty of fish in the past, but I hadn’t had any luck that day."

"I’d been fishing with maggots for all that time, but I just changed it just before I went home and put a spinner on my rod."

"Within seconds I felt an almighty tug on the rod and reeled it in. I couldn’t believe it. I managed to get it in to the net and brought it to the side. Luckily it didn’t bite me."

"I then weighed it on the bank and it weighed 3Ibs. I couldn’t believe it, and neither could my friends. No-one has ever caught anything like that before."

The South American piranha has the reuptation of being one of the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world - and are even the subject of a Hollywood horror film.

Their short jaws are powerful and lines with razor sharp teeth and are well able to take a chunk of flesh out of much larger fish.

They mainly eat other fish but myth suggests they will attack any creature, whatever the size, if it is injured or struggling in the water.

They grow to a maximum of nearly 13 inches and a weight of 3.5kgs. The piranha caught by Josh was approximately 12 inches long.

Experts say it was most likely to have been put into the pond at local beauty spot Reddish Vale, in Stockport, by a previous owner.

It is a tropical fish, originating from the Amazon river, and needs a warm water temperature to survive.

But the warm summer enjoyed by Britain enabled it to survive - although experts have said that it wouldn’t have survived the winter.

Brian Zimmerman, aquarium manager at London Zoo, said: "This is most unusual. It managed to survive until it was caught, but it couldn’t have survived the cold winter as the waters it is used to are between 25 and 30 degrees."

"It would have eaten smaller fish such as roach and tench to survive - the red bellied piranhas usually hunt in shoals and attack in a large group. When they are on their own they have to go for smaller prey."

He added that although it is not known whether more piranhas had been released into the water at the same time, it is unlikely that they could have reproduced.

Mr Zimmerman added: "It isn’t impossible that they could have bred, but it is very unlikely."

"Piranhas have very specialised breeding conditions. When we breed them we have to increase the water temperature, then drop it several degrees to mimic the change of seasons in the Amazon, and that triggers spawning."

"You have to be careful when landing a piranha as its teeth are extremely sharp - and he could have easily lost a finger."

"In South America, most people are injured when they catch them on fishing lines and they reel them in, rather than being attacked whilst swimming."

After he bravely caught the fish, Josh released it back into the pond, but when he returned two days later to fish again, he saw it floating on the top of the water.

His mother Elaine didn’t believe him at first - until he showed her the pictures that he had taken on his camera phone, just seconds after he landed the fish.

Mrs Boyle said: "I just couldn’t believe it when Josh said he had caught a piranha, but then he showed me it."

"He’s always been a keen angler - and he was taught at the age of two by his dad, who is also a keen angler. Both of us were shocked when we knew what Josh had caught."

A spokesman for the Professional Anglers Association said: "I have never heard of anyone catching a piranha in British waters before - it really is remarkable."

"He was crazy to reel it in - we wouldn’t recommend landing a piranha in any circumstances."