"I went into hospital expecting a triple heart bypass, but woke up after the operation to find that things had been so bad they had performed a quadruple bypass operation," he said.

From his hospital bed it was time to think of a new start.

After leaving school he had trained as a mechanic and worked with heavy goods vehicles, but after the operation he could no longer drive HGV's and he had to find a new job.

For years fishing had been his passion.

As a child he had fished alongside local anglers, but when he married and had a family fishing took a back seat.

For 10 years he hardly picked up a rod, but the lure of the sport gradually reeled him in. He started fishing again, took up competitive fishing - and he was hooked.

The sport has taken him across Europe to Ireland, for years a Mecca for anglers, and to Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

But earlier this year he was invited to join a group of friends on a fishing holiday to Canada, where the huge fish in rivers and lakes were a real eye opener.

"It is absolutely fantastic fishing. Carp were introduced over there as food for immigrants about 100 years ago, but carp were only popular with people from Eastern Europe and China, and they are not to the taste of modern day Candians.

"They only fish for food to eat and they think we are crazy catching coarse fish -- and throwing them back."

But the four friends didn't do things by halves.

They made sure they packed all the equipment they would need, knowing there would be little which was suitable for their style of fishing in the Canadian stores. And once they had touched down in Toronto they began working on the expedition itself.

"We hired a 4x4 which had enough room for us an our equipment and drove over 100 miles to the Otanabee River in Ontario," Dave said.

They also bought the ingredients to cook up their own bait, and on the two week trip used over one-tonne of their own recipe to tempt the fish.

"It worked out a lot cheaper than over here, and it was well worth it."

Huge fish started leaping onto their lines and the action began.

"They were all 100 per cent fit and gave us a great fight. It was fantastic fishing," Dave said.

His biggest fish weighed in at 32lb 06oz and throughout the trip he caught 1,024lb of fish.

Now Dave plans to organise a trip for local anglers next year

"The weather was superb and the fish were great. It was absolutely heaven," he said.