String of twenties from Ardleigh Reservoir

This stunning 23lb 14oz mirror is one of a string of twenties caught from the daunting 130-acre Ardleigh Reservoir by Ray Davies.

The Colchester-based soldier in the Parachute Regiment has mainly been fishing short overnight sessions and has adopted a mobile approach to try and track down the venue’s small head of fish.

He said: “I’ve now decided to call it a day on Ardleigh having caught over 40 of this waters estimated 120 fish stock in my 2 years on the water, recaptures are starting to figure a lot.”

All of his fish were taken on a mixture of Sticky Krill and White Chocolate 16mm pop-ups fished over large beds of 20mm freezer baits on rigs tied with size 5 ESP Stiff Rigger hooks and 15lb Atomic Jel-E-Wyre hooklinks.