The one that didn’t get away

Saturday marked 40 years to the day since the Carrick man set a new record for the biggest cod ever caught in Belfast Lough - a feat which sparked his lifelong interest in tracking down the sea’s larger specimens.

Albert reeled in the 28lb fish off the coast of Whitehead during a routine fishing trip on August 18, 1972, with the East Antrim Times then-photographer Archie Peoples on shore to capture the full size of the beast.

The imposing creature remains the record-breaker for the largest fish of its kind caught in the Lough.

“I was out on a 15-foot punt with the Erdis brothers, George, Matthew and Michael; the rest had been catching whiting and fish like that. I had a brand new rod and reel and dropped that down,” said Albert, who grew up in Davys Street before moving to the Windmill area and finally Raw Brae Road.

“When the fish caught hold of the bait it actually bent the rod, and when we reeled it in, one of the boys joked that we’d have to get out of the boat to make room for it.

“I sold the cod to Hilditch’s fishmongers, which was then on Market Place, for around £2. At the time my wages were about £16 a week so that was a lot,” said Albert, former chair of the Carreras Angling Club and one-time member of Carrickfergus and District Angling Club.

“It also won Fish of the Month in the Belfast Telegraph, so I was given fishing tackle as a prize.”

Since making the record-breaking catch, the retired businessman has fished in oceans, rivers and lakes worldwide in pursuit of similar large creatures.

“I’ve fished in Norway, Canada, the Maldives, Gran Canaria and closer to home in Donegal,” he said. “Rathmullan in Donegal is where I caught a 125lb skate in June 2010. I also caught a blue shark off the coast of Donegal that weighed 45lb, and a 48lb cod in Soroya, Norway. The world record for the heaviest cod was broken in Soroya three weeks later by another angler who caught one weighing 91lb.

“Norway was one of the most extreme places I’ve fished yet; the water was actually four degrees warmer than the air and the weather could change in seconds in what we called a white-out.”

Albert’s exotic catches include barracuda, stingray and wolffish, with more common species such as salmon and trout taking the bait after he began fly-fishing three years ago.

However, only the truly massive fish remain for Albert’s self-titled ‘Bucket List’ of specimens he hopes to catch in the future.

“Ever since I caught that cod 40 years ago, it inspired me to try and catch the bigger fish; it’s still on my list to catch ones like the marlin, bluefin tuna, and even the great white shark,” he said.