It’s a whopper!

Eden and the giant tuna

FIRST-TIME angler Alex Leslie reeled in a whopping 230lb bigeye tuna — missing the world youth record by just six months.

The Moorside teenager battled with the fish for 45 minutes off the coast of Madeira before landing it — and was exhausted by the effort.

The tense battle between man and fish took place under the encouragement of Alex’s stepfather, Mark Blackburn, whose annual treat to himself is a deep-sea fishing day during the family holiday.

Mark said: “We were due back in harbour at 9pm, but 20 minutes before that we spotted a bait ball with birds flying around it.

“We sailed over to have a look and two tuna struck. Alex took the heavy-duty tackle, the adrenaline kicked in and he was very keen for the first 20 minutes, but then he had to grit his teeth, dig his heels in and just keep going.

“It was non-stop, his arms were shaking - but he was determined. Alex got his tuna on board - it was the first fish he has caught,” said Mark. The fish was so heavy it took two crew to lift it on to the boat.

Had Alex caught his fish six months earlier - before turning 17 - he would have smashed the world record by 49lb.

Back at the harbour Alex’s young brother Eden (7) was thrilled to have his picture taken with the fish — which weighed more than Alex and his mum Karen Leslie together.

But Alex still has a way to go before catching up with his stepfather - whose record catch seven years ago was a 14ft long blue marlin weighing 990lb.