Is this the picture of next perch record?

Could this be the image of the next record perch? That is the question being asked after Charles Martin claimed this enormous 6lb 2oz specimen from Grafham Reservoir.
The predator season started with a bang as big fish were landed across the country, but the Suffolk angler stole the show when he took the specimen – which is just 1oz off the UK best – from the Cambridgeshire venue.
Despite having fished the water for five years, he had never landed a perch during that time, but he put the record straight when the giant specimen fell for a Mepps spinner. “I knew it was a huge perch as soon as I got it in the net but it wasn’t until I got back to land that I was told I it was so close to being a new British record,” Charles told Angling Times.
“I was delighted to land a 2lb-plus fish earlier in the day, but this one dwarfed it.”
“We did some checks on the digital scales that I used later in the day and they proved to be accurate, so I have no doubts about the weight of it.”
Although the capture fell just shy of making it into the history book, Charles is determined to eventually break the record.
“I will be going back in the near future. Once this fish had been slipped back I saw another perch that looked even bigger follow my lure, so it shows that this beast isn’t alone,” he added.
He wasn’t the only one taking advantage of the conditions, with Joe Royffe taking a personal-best 4lb 7oz stripey from the River Lea.
Having banked fish well over 3lb in the weeks leading up to the session, the Hertfordshire angler set his stall out on Carthagena Weir Pool in Broxbourne.
It didn’t take long for his roach livebait presented on a size 6 hook to be engulfed.
“It was so powerful that I thought it couldn’t possibly be a perch and I was overwhelmed when it came to the surface,” he said.
“I will certainly be going back for a bigger perch this winter, as there is every chance the venue could produce a 5lb-plus fish.”
Pike angling fanatic Dave Horton’s decision to switch his attentions to perch paid off handsomely when he netted a brace weighing 4lb 1oz and 4lb 4oz from an Essex river.
Rather than fish from the bank, the Waltham Abbey rod attacked his swim from a kayak.
“To land a brace of fish over 4lb in such a short space of time is truly breath-taking,” he said.
“I’ve spent most of the summer fishing from a kayak, as it definitely allows you to present your bait better in places that would otherwise be inaccessible from the bank.”
It wasn’t just perch that dominated the headlines – big zander also went on the feed, with Arunaz Morkvenas taking a 19lb fish from the River Trent.
A legered roach deadbait presented down the middle of the waterway proved its downfall.
“I struck and the fish felt heavy and just started plodding about. It took me 15 minutes to get it under control before it came to the net. It’s the biggest fish and first zander I’ve ever caught,” he said.
The zander action was equally prolific on the River Severn for Garry Bagley, who finished a short session with an 18lb predator on the bank.
Targeting a snaggy area that was known to hold the species, the Stourbridge rod took a small fish in the opening stages and soon followed it up with something much more substantial.
“It was a dead weight and refused to budge off the bottom for a little while. I was forced to crank the power up. It worked a treat and minutes later the beast was in the net,” explained Garry, who used 65lb braided mainline and a 30lb wire trace and a roach livebait.