Angler Andy Hackett catches a carrot-orange fish – Photo: BLUEWATER LAKES

Andy Hackett, 42, was lucky when he caught a giant orange carp nicknamed Carrot while fishing at the Bluewater Lakes Company’s lake in the Champagne province, northeastern France.

“I always knew Carrot was somewhere in the lake but never thought I would catch it,” said Mr Hackett.

Mr Hackett is a director of a company in Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England.

Carrot, although it looks like a goldfish, is actually an orange carp hybrid of a European carp and a koi. The hybrid carp is 20 years old and was released into Bluewater Lakes as a target for anglers, Bluewater Lakes spokesman Jason Cowler told USA Today .

“Since it was released into the lake it has grown larger but has not been seen very often,” Mr Cowler added. “It is very difficult to catch.”

During her time in the lake, Carrot had almost never been caught until she took Hackett’s bait.

Carrot hybrid between European carp and koi – Photo: BLUEWATER LAKES

“I knew it was a big fish as soon as it took the bait, it pulled me left and right, up and down,” said Hackett. “It came up about 30 to 40 metres above the water and I saw it was orange.”

“It was amazing to be able to catch this fish, but I guess I was lucky too,” added the winning man after wrestling with the giant fish for 25 minutes.

Carrot weighs about 30.5kg, twice as much as the largest goldfish ever recorded in 2019 in Minnesota (USA).

After catching Carrot, Hackett posed for a photo and released the animal back into the lake. The British man then had a cup of tea to celebrate his successful catch.

“We would like to congratulate Mr Hackett on this fantastic catch,” Mr Cowler said. A Bluewater Lakes spokesman added that Carrot was in good health.