Last gasp bite for huge perch PB

Luck always plays a big part in angling, but for Aylesbury rod Scott Shepherd it was key to the capture of this impressive 5lb 8oz perch.

Fishing a local reservoir the 35-year-old arrived at dawn, getting a few hours on the bank before work. Presenting double red maggot hookbait on a maggot feeder setup at 60yards, the IT Test Analyst didn’t have a touch  - until he was packing up to go home.

“I’d packed everything up and was just reaching for one of my rods after switching the alarms off when the swinger dropped. I thought I must have knocked the rod, but I hit it and had a fish on,” Scott told AT.

“Half way in I got locked up solid in a weed bed to the point where I was pulling for a break when it came free. When I saw it in the net I couldn’t believe I’d actually caught the fish, it could so easily have never been.”

Scott beat his fish using a size 14hook with a 4lb hook length and 8lb mainline.