An Irish fisherman has caught a giant skate fish not far from Rathlin island off the coast of County Antrim. 

Weighing in at a mighty 222lbs, and measuring an incredible 8ft long by 6ft wide, it broke the record for the biggest common skate to be caught in the Irish Sea.

Andy Logan from Carrickfergus managed to land the hefty fish after it pulled his boat two miles out to sea.

The 38-year-old mechanic fell onto his knees and was pulled towards the edge of his 4.5 ton boat by the mammoth fish.

“[The fish] bent the rod in half and nearly pulled it off the boat. When I got the rod out of the holder the sheer force of the skate pulled me right across the boat.

“I was on my knees at the back of the boat and gripped on to the bar to make sure I didn’t fall in,” Logan told the Daily Mail.

The fish only surfaced after skipper Hamish Currie reversed the 37ft boat. It then took three men to finally pull it onto the boat.

“When I got it up I realized how big it was, it was a complete monster.

“We kept it for three or four minutes and grabbed a few photographs then put it back in the sea. It took us about an hour and ten minutes, I’ve caught sharks easier than that!

Logan added: “Words can’t describe how I felt when I saw it, I have caught skate before but not one that big”.