A FATHER and son had “the trip of a lifetime” after netting a gigantic haul during a fishing expedition.

Wayne Clark, 37, and son Billie, 15, headed to the Wintons fishery in Burgess Hill to try their luck.

His son had just recovered from bone surgery, which had left him wheelchair bound for months.

To celebrate getting out of the wheelchair Wayne brought his son to the lake where he first fished with his own father, more than 25 years ago.

To their astonishment, the Patcham pair netted more than 800lb of fish – including two catfish weighing more than 80lb each.

Wayne said: “During his recovery I used to push him around the lake and talk about getting into fishing.

“And once he was fully recovered, he said ‘I want to have a go’.”

Talking about catching the largest - monster-sized catfish with his son, Wayne said: “The alarms on the rod started screaming and within 15 seconds, the fish had ripped half-way across the lake. It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen – it’s like a tug of war.”

It took the father and son, who took turns reeling in the fish, 20 minutes before they had the 81lb 8oz fish on solid ground. The catfish was returned to the lake after a weigh-in and a picture.

But the catfish were not the only impressive catches on the pair’s fishing expedition earlier this month.

They also netted a common carp weighing 29lb 4oz and a mirror carp weighing 30lb 12oz. The pair caught a haul of 848lb 8oz in total.

The proud father said: “It’s overwhelming, a junior starting off, to get this amount of fish is an achievement.”

Wayne is no stranger to fishing achievements himself. Aged 12, he caught two mirror carp at the same fishery weighing 21lb 14oz and 22lb 8oz. His feat, which he achieved while fishing with his own father, Martin, was featured in the Evening Argus more than 25 years ago.