IN the murky depths of a fishing lake in Halwill, you would expect to see numerous trout — but this year's netting week at Anglers' Paradise has turned up a surprise resident in one of their lakes.

Each year, Zyg Gregorek and visitors to the resort drains at least one of its lakes to count the fish inside the lake. This year, the draining exercise turned up a genuine river monster — a 60lb catfish. Yet that is not the biggest fish found in the lakes, with the record standing at over 70lb for a catfish in one of Anglers' Paradise's lakes.

'This is definitely one of the biggest we have had here, it was a very impressive fish,' said Zyg.

'In Europe, catfish can grow to over 100lbs, but in Britain for some reason they never quite reach that size. It means you see some big catfish brought over illegally.

'We got small catfish in the 90s when they were six inches long, and they have been allowed to grow over time naturally to this big size.'

A swarm of eels were among the other fish found in the drained lake. They are becoming increasingly rare in Britain's rivers and lakes.

Zyg said: 'The eels have the double header of going out to sea and being tasty food for predators, and then coming back into the rivers as elders and being caught by poachers. Man messing around with our rivers doesn't help them either.

'We found some weighing around five to six pounds, so they will be moved to another lake so they can grow larger.'

All the fish netted were handled with extreme care, and kept alive during the draining and netting process. Some of the fish were moved to other lakes at the complex, while others were put back in their original lakes.

The resort combines the practical work of lake draining and netting the fish with a week-long charity fundraiser, with lots of fun events for holiday makers and visitors in return for their hard work.

'Netting Week' raises thousands of pounds each year for local charities, to be shared among a number of local good causes, including buying a defibrilator for Anglers' Paradise in case of an emergency.

Among the charities receiving money raised through Netting Week this year are Okehampton and Holsworthy Foodbanks, Prostate Cancer, and a campaign by BBC Radio Devon sharing money out to good causes in the county.