Thames record zander as season comes to end

This is the picture of one of the biggest zander ever landed weighing 20lb 2oz.

The River Thames produced the shock specimen, which smashes the official record that stands at 13lb 9oz, in the closing stages of the river season when Warwick Salzer spent an evening session casting lures from his boat.

The 38-year-old used a Fishing Addicts segmented roach lure with a rattle to enable fish to find it in the dark, with a single strand of trace wire and an 18lb braided mainline.

The fish falls just 1lb 3oz short of the current British record that was caught from the River Severn by James Benfield in 2007 and took Warwick’s lure early on in his session.

 “I’ve been saying that there were some really big zander in the Thames for years and now I’ve finally proved it,” said a delighted Warwick.

The experienced  London angler runs guided fishing trips on the Thames and the big ‘zed’ capped an incredible final week of the 2014/15 season for Warwick and his customers, which also saw pike to 25lb and perch to 3lb 8oz boated.

But this capture is the highlight of his time working on the famous waterway.

“I was just starting to retrieve the lure when whack, I had a really aggressive take and I wasn’t even sure it was a zander at first,” Warwick continued.

“I didn’t think it was a real monster, but as I’d lost two fish early on I took it really steady just in case. “When we netted it was nothing like I expected or have ever seen before as the belly on it was truly enormous,

“The Thames is full of suprises and I can’t wait until next season.” he said.

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