Surprise sturgeon from River Severn
Vaughan Witton got the shock of his life while fishing one of his favourite stretches of the River Severn when he hooked a sturgeon – the first ever believed to have been caught from the waterway.
Fishing with angling guide Graham King on a private stretch of the river below Worcester, Vaughan was targeting barbel using a groundbait feeder set-up and was in the process of landing an 11lb specimen when his other rod signalled a take as the unexpected fish picked up his 14mm Dynamite pellet hookbait. Vaughan told Angling Times: “I still had the barbel in the landing net when I had to grab my other rod. I thought it was another barbel or chub but was shocked when it surfaced. In all my years fishing the river I’ve never heard of anyone catching a sturgeon.”
The pair decided not to weigh the sturgeon and returned it to the river, estimating its weight at around 6-7lb.
