A TEENAGER has seen his name included on a prestigious list after catching the first mackerel of the season off Lyme Regis.

The mackerel run usually begins in late spring in the south west and it's something of a tradition in Lyme to honour the person who hooks the first one.

This year it was caught by Charlie Watson, 14, who had been visiting Lyme with his parents to see his grandmother.

Charlie, from Harpenden in Hertfordshire, was 'very proud’ to have caught the first mackerel on a hand line whilst he was out on a boat trip with Harry May of the Marie F. fishing boat.

Harry said: “There is a long-running tradition in the town going back decades that the first mackerel of the year gets presented to the mayor, but it appears Charlie loves mackerel and wasn’t very keen on giving it to anyone except his mum who readily agreed to cook it for him.

“With the seas warming up and the mackerel stocks heading to colder waters around Iceland seeing this fish being landed was a very welcome sight.”

As reported by the News back in 2014, skipper Harry has also been one of the fishermen to catch ‘the first mackerel of the season’ and the second and then the third.

It was his first mackerel trip of the year and the fisherman managed to catch three mackerel on Mother’s Day after setting the lines for the first time. 

He was also very eager to follow the time-honoured tradition and presented the town mayor with all three mackerel.