71lb tope shock off Norfolk coast

GAVIN Miller experienced a fishing trip he will never forget when he landed this huge tope weighing 71lb while fishing off the Norfolk coast.

The 29-year-old from Rosliston in Derbyshire, was fishing aboard Nigel Storey’s Sunbeam III out of Wells-next-to-the-Sea, when he landed the fish from a well-known mark located a few miles offshore.

Gavin, who has only been sea fishing a handful of times, said: “I have been out on a few boats from Illfracombe in Cornwall but have only caught baby tope. I’m more of a carp angler really and have never caught anything this size before - I couldn’t believe my luck.”
Fishing in depths of around 114ft, Gavin used a mackerel head on a size 2/0 hook to land the specimen which was the only tope of the trip. “I have booked up again for later in the year as I’m hungry for more fish like this. Nigel is an excellent skipper, he knows exactly where to go to catch them,” he added.

Gavin’s fish is 11lb short of the current boat caught British tope record, an 82lb fish caught off Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex by R.Chatfield in 1991.