23lb river pike on roach deadbait

JAMES Sarkar only had one bite during a recent session on the River Severn – but he wasn’t complaining as it resulted in this 23lb personal best pike.

The 20-year-old Sparsholt College student presented a floatfished roach deadbait on a pair of size 4 trebles to tempt the impressive predator, which beat his previous best of 22lb 8oz, from the near margin of his swim on the midlands waterway.

His father, Dilip, has also been getting in on the pike action over the last week and landed a 20lb 10oz specimen from an undisclosed river.