Media Monster

Greatest Picture Ever? Man Forfeits Wife, Children, To Catch Fish

The old expression goes “a picture is worth a thousand words.” When it comes to this picture, I know that there are at LEAST a thousand words present here. But for some reason, all I can muster is one: “What?”

Let’s try and contextualize a bit here. This is Lee Jackson. The fish he’s holding is a 68 pound carp known as “Two Tone,” who lived in Conningbrook Lake, Kent, UK. As he chronicles in this Daily Mail article, Jackson’s angling hobby became an obsession centered around catching this fish. He played Ahab to Two Tone’s Moby Dick.

Perhaps it’s best to let Jackson explain the great lengths he went to in his pursuit of Two Tone:

“I’d head down on Sunday and stay until Monday morning, then spend Wednesday evening through to Friday morning at the lake, as Thursday was my day off work. I would have braved my camp-bed in winter, too, but it’s almost impossible to catch anything during the colder months.

My wife (now my ex-wife) never stood in the way of my passion, but she did think I was crazy and it did begin to cause friction. I left her with three small children, and occasionally I’d come in after several days away to a pointed remark. ‘Look who it is, kids!’ she’d say with theatrical surprise.”

Fortunately, Jackson was able to catch Two Tone on August 28, 2002. The fish passed away, at the age of 45 (I have no idea how you’d determine a fish’s age.) This picture, however, will live on forever.