ECSTATIC angler Stephen Weir reeled in the second-biggest carp in history and then admitted: It looked like a whale.

The mammoth quest of the Mannington ace to snare a mammoth beast finally came to an end when he caught a 104lb 2oz mirror carp after a lengthy battle at the Euro Aqua lake in Hungary.

Weir had totalled in excess of 20,000 miles driving to and from the venue on nine separate occasions before he finally landed the British-record monster.

And the 52-year-old, who estimated he had incurred costs of £30,000 in the process, was just 1lb 11oz off the world record set at Euro Aqua weeks earlier by Czech angler Thomas Krist.

While IT consultant Weir was frustrated to miss out on that mark, he was thrilled to have etched his name in the record books.

Five things lighter than Weir's carp:

The Daily Echo's Anna Zienkovicz

Female Bernese mountain dog

Gymnast Claudia Fragapane

A small moped

A male Emperor penguin

Weir told the Daily Echo: “When my right rod sprang into action, the fish actually came up to the surface and rolled. I saw its tail and it was a bit like in nature films when the whale’s tail comes out of the water!

“I knew then that even if it wasn’t the world-record fish, it was going to be one of the big ones because there are two or three fish over the 100lb mark in that lake.

“There are strict rules in place so the tackle I was trying to land this thing with was so light, it was unbelievable. You have to give it all you’ve got without breaking the line, that’s the big challenge.

“I slid it into the net and it was so huge that it only just fitted!

“Although it was frustratingly close to the world record, it didn’t tarnish it at all because it was the fish of a lifetime. It’s been a long time coming but it was a great feeling.”

Weir, who has been fishing since childhood, plans to return to Hungary for a fortnight in September to launch another world record bid and believes he can achieve his dream.

He added: “When I was young my mates had pictures of George Best and Alan Ball on their walls but I had pictures of Ivan Marks and Bob Nudd!

“I grew up fishing rivers and canals and I’ve been into carp fishing for 25 or 30 years. It’s been a long journey.

“I’m getting closer to the world record. I won’t stop trying and I’m still very confident I will get it.

“I just love to fish in general and there’s loads of other fish other than carp I’d love to have a go at. It’s not all about the weight, there are some beautiful fish out there.”

Prior to Krist’s exploits in May, the world carp record had been 101lb 4oz which had stood since June 2012 when Austrian angler Roman Hanke landed a beauty at Euro Aqua.