42lb tope on sandeel
Stuart Webber’s lure fishing trip, turned into a session to remember when he landed this giant 42lb 12oz tope.
The keen sea angler was spinning for pollack off Baggy Point in Croyde, Devon, using frozen sandeel on a size 2/0 hook when the huge specimen took hold.
Miraculously Stuart managed to land the fish on just 25lb fluorocarbon line but soon returned to the same area with stronger gear in the hope of more tope and landed a 30lb fish on fresh mackerel bait just days later.
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.
New UK shore-caught tope record
Michael Bell’s long distance trip to the Isle of Man proved worthwhile when he landed a new UK shore caught Tope record, weighing a staggering 66lb 10oz.
The 42-year-old Northumberland-based college lecturer was fishing with his friend Scott Davidson at Point West, in Ramsey - a known deep water mark for the species - when he landed the fish, beating Kevin Legge’s 66lb specimen caught in Devon in 2006.
The pair caught a total of 24 fish during the week, including another large tope of 40lb, using freshly caught mackerel.
Michael used a Sakuma Manta 6/0 hook tied to a 75lb Sakuma wire trace to land the fish, which was weighed and witnessed by local angler Mark Quirk, before being released.
71lb Thames tope landed
AT 71lb, this tope was a true ‘fish of a lifetime’ and came during a session on the Thames estuary for Stewart Morrell.
The impressive specimen is just 11lb shy of the British record for the species and one of the biggest caught from the area for decades.
Malden-based Stewart was fishing aboard Ron Angel’s boat ‘Why Worry’ out of Burnham-on-Crouch in Essex, uptiding with a mackerel head attached to a 7/0 circle hook and a 130lb nylon trace. Skipper Ron said he had been seeking a fish like this for a long time for his clients:
“The last 70lb-plus tope caught here that I can recall was in the 1990s and a fish over 50lb is considered a specimen. The really big tope are females and we usually only get a six week run of them between May and June. They’re a bit later than usual this year though and there’s a really good run of them,” he said.
For more on his trips visit www.whyworryanglingcharters.co.uk or call 07956 439244.
