Kayak angler towed a mile by huge skate

Ryan Turner was towed nearly a mile out to sea on a 15ft kayak as he battled with a giant 100lb-plus monster skate.

The 22-year-old from Dorset has become only the tenth angler to catch a three figure specimen from a kayak after making the 1,000 mile trip to Oban in the North-West of Scotland where a group of fellow kayakers met to target the species.

However, the aeronautical engineer from Lyme Regis was made to wait until the last cast of the final day of the eight day trip before hooking the huge fish: “It was fishing at its most extreme” said Ryan. “I didn’t realise it had dragged me out so far because I was so focused on trying to get it to the surface as I was fishing in over 400ft of water. I have been a kayak angler for some time now but have only ever targeted fish to around 10lb such as small rays. My biggest ever fish is actually only a 20lb carp so this was a complete eye opener for me!”

Ryan used a 50lb class rod, a hook the size of a human hand and a whole octopus as bait to catch the gigantic specimen which was estimated to have weighed between 120lb and 140lb, measuring 2m long and 1.5m wide. It took over half an hour to land and he had to have another angler paddle around next to him in case he got into trouble. “I was feeling quite downhearted as despite catching a rare black-mouthed dogfish during the trip I hadn’t caught anything big in the eight days whereas some of the others in the group had. I was extremely relieved when I hooked this monster which ended up being the biggest fish of the week. I am so grateful to Tom Brice and Nick Turner for making this trip happen,” he added.

Ryan’s capture in numbers
4 – The weight in pounds of the lead Ryan used to hold bottom
15 – The length in feet of Ryan’s kayak
20 – Ryan’s previous biggest fish in pounds
330 – The breaking strain in pounds of Ryan’s hook leader
450 – The depth in feet the 22-year-old was fishing
1000 – The total miles Ryan travelled to get to his fishing spot