18lb 6oz zander banked from Tamworth cut

This is a picture of what’s believed to be the biggest-ever zander from a UK canal.
The 18lb 6oz fish fell to canal specialist Ian Davey, whose three-year quest ended when he targeted a stretch in Tamworth.
The 33-year-old Birmingham rod pierced his roach head bait to imitate wounds caused by one of the big predators, and says his own design of resistance-free rig was instrumental in the capture.
The fish smashes his previous best of 5lb 8oz and supersedes the 18-pounder landed by Andy Spring from the Ashby Canal in Leicestershire in 2012 as the UK’s biggest from a cut.
“Everyone thinks the River Severn holds the biggest zander, but they are wrong,” Ian said.
“No-one bothers with the canals these days, but this just goes to show what they can do.”
He took the zed on 15lb mainline, a fine wire trace and a single treble slipped through the all-important roach hookbait.
“If anglers come from lakes or rivers with crude tackle and big deadbaits they won’t catch a thing here,” he said. “Luring shy zander from canals is a fishing art form and you really have to refine your approach.
“I’ve studied how this species feed down to the minute details like the impressions their teeth leave on fish, and that gave me the idea of adapting my hookbaits so they look like baits that have been left by zander.
“Even though I know what these waterways are capable of I still went white when I opened the folds of the net and this massive fish stared back at me.”