fisherman Carlton Hunt.

He pulled in the massive fish after a battle off North Shore -- and an unsuccessful trip out to sea.

Mr. Hunt, of Devonshire, said: "I hadn't caught anything and was just about to go when it bit. I couldn't believe it when I pulled it in.'' And when Mr. Hunt took his catch ashore, it weighed in at a whopping 23.5 pounds -- nearly double the normal size for the type.

Mr. Hunt said: "It's a very rare catch in our waters these days.

"I was talking to a few fisherman and they said the biggest they had seen locally was 17 to 18 pounds.'' He added that he was fishing off North Shore on Sunday in a northeasterly wind -- said by Island fishing experts not to favour good catches.

Mr. Hunt said his hook was baited with live ocean robin when the massive snapper bit.

But he added that he still had some way to go before claiming a record catch.

What is thought to be the biggest red snapper on record was caught off New Mexico in the 1970s and weighed in at 50 pounds.

In 1998, Mr. Hunt also featured in The Royal Gazette with a fishing whopper -- he landed his first hogfish, which totalled 21 pounds, 12 ounces -- way above the usual four to six pounds.