That’s no pike, Mark!

Angling Times features editor Mark Parker got the surprise of his angling life when he hit into this 12lb-plus brown trout on a drop shot rod while perch fishing.
Mark caught it during a perch fishing feature at Blithfield Reservoir in Staffordshire.
 “The fish had the light drop shot rod bent double and it didn’t surface for at least 10 minutes or so,” said Mark. “My boat partner Ian and I thought it was a huge pike, but a brief break in the fight saw the fish surface and it was then that we realised it was a huge brownie.”
He beat the trout on a braided mainline and 8lb fluorocarbon leader, and the lure was a Savage Gear 8cm Cannibal Shad on an 8g jig head.
“Due to the constant rocking of the boat, the precise weight could not be recorded,” said Mark.
“Still, it was a pb trout that could potentially have been the new fishery record for the species.”