A CIRENCESTER schoolboy got the shock of his life when he pulled a 39 pound fish from a lake in South Cerney.

Keen fisherman Daniel Deeks, 14, was night fishing during his half term holiday at Franklins Lake when he was buzzed awake by his alarm at about 3am.

The alarm signalled he had caught a fish but to Daniel’s surprise, he dragged from the water a carp weighing 39 pounds.

“I couldn’t get back to sleep after because I was so excited,” said Deer Park pupil Daniel. “I was with my friends so I ran over to wake them up and tell them but they didn’t believe me.”

Daniel often goes fishing with his dad and his best friends and said he loves the feeling of “just getting out on the lake”.

The carp, named the Long Common was caught with a local bait called Connect Baits. Daniel said it had not been seen in around four years and was even thought to be dead.

Fisherman and Standard columnist Jon Berry said it was very unusual for a young boy to catch such a huge fish.

“It’s the heaviest fish I know of to come out of that lake,” he said. “Very few lakes have 40 pound fish in them, so that’s seriously impressive.”

After taking photos and marvelling over the size of the carp, Daniel placed the fish back into the lake.

“It was about 30-40 years old," said Daniel. "One of the men who has caught most of the fish in the lake told me it was the biggest one that had even been caught here.”