When he held them back up in the water they looked like live fish.
They also spent £575 on live fish for a council pond.
It is also possible that the pool was used to store live fish, to keep them fresh.
"Most of our business is in live fish," he said.
But it was not the drag of a live fish.
Not all chefs, though, are sold on the idea of live fish.
"The technology for carrying live fish has improved in the last few years," he said.
In 1992 about 131,000 tons of live fish were caught.
How does one transport a big live fish to a show?
Whole live fish, prepared a variety of ways, can be a tour de force.