Dozy Bazil Caught Again

Bazil the carp,who's found worldwide fame after being caught 59 times in the last 25 years,has taken the bait yet again!

Big Baz is apparently pleased with his new-found stardom and wants to taste more...he's been hooked for the 60th time,just days after appearing in newspapers and magazines and on TV across the world.

His latest captor,Berkshire-based fisherman Martyn Young,says he could not believe it when Bazil took his bait.

Martyn had spent more than ten days trying to catch the monster carp at the lake where he swims in Yateley,Surrey.

The 32-year-old carpenter has now become one of the growing army of anglers lucky enough to be able to say they have caught Britain's most famous fish.

He said today "It has been a dream of mine to catch Bazil for the last three years,ever since I started going to the lake.

"I have seen him on the bank six times when other people have caught him,and I have even picked him out of the water with my hands when a friend caught him,but I could never get him myself."

Martyn decided to book ten days at the lake's edge after hearing how well Bazil was feeding this summer.

"I just felt the time was right and I must have spent hours deciding where to set up my gear and where I thought he would be lurking.

"I had to move swims a couple of times before I could finally see him rummaging in the reeds.

"I cast out my bait at about 6am and within a matter of minutes something was chewing at it deep down in the water.

"I hooked whatever it was and started reeling it in.I started shaking like a leaf.He shot off towards the reeds and I thought I was going to lose him.

"After about 10 minutes struggling,I finally managed to guide the fish back from the reeds.I still had no idea it was Bazil.I had seen part of its tail and it looked quite small.

"As I get it closer,it rolled over on the surface and I recognised it straight away as Bazil.

"When I finally got him in the net,I just started screaming 'Bazil,Bazil',and all the other anglers came running.

"It was a wonderful feeling as he is such a beautiful fish.I have always wanted to catch him and I couldn't believe I had finally done it."

Martyn excitedly weighed Bazil,who tipped the scales this time at 45lb 4oz,before slipping the carp back alive and unharmed into the lake.

Martyn says he is now going to look for somewhere else to fish."Yateley is a great venue,but it will not be the same fishing there now,knowing that I have already caught Bazil.It would not be the same."