This is the moment an angler in China is pulled into a reservoir by a feisty 20-kilogramme fish that pulls him straight off the small perch he was sitting on after he catches it.

The incident took place in Lianyungang, Jiangsu, on May 20, with the images showing a number of fishermen sitting on the edge of a fish farm reservoir on narrow wooden jetties.

Suddenly, one of the fishermen gets a bite and tries to reel the fish in.

But he loses his balance as the rather strong fish tugs on the line and he is pulled into the water.

But he does not give up and keeps pulling on his rod while kicking with his feet to make it back to dry land, with other anglers apparently gathering around to help as the footage ends.

Local media said that the man fell in the water because the fish was too heavy, with the owner of the fish farm, Li, telling local media: 'Someone was fishing in our reservoir. Maybe he was a little thin. The fish was finally weighed at about 20 kilogrammes [44 lbs]. It had just dragged him into the water.'

He said that it was not all that unusual for his fish to weigh so much, adding that people had caught fish on his farm that weighed between 60 and 70 kilogrammes before.

He added: 'In the end, everyone was okay, and other fishing friends helped to 'catch' both the people and the fish. We can also see the real-time situation through monitoring, and staff will come out and help if needed.'

Li said that the angler was soaked after being poured into the water and immediately went to a nearby store to buy a new set of clothes before promptly returning to his fishing.