Zander record holder gets Severn pike twenty

Trout fishing reservoirs might be stealing all the headlines when it comes to big pike at the moment, but James Benfield proved how good our rivers are when he netted this 26lb 5oz personal best.
The current British zander record holder with a fish weighing 21lb 5oz was tackling a stretch of the River Severn when he set his hooks into the specimen that fell for a small chub livebait.
Predators weighing 19lb 10oz and
11lb 12oz also fell to the 28-year-old, from Malvern in Worcester, who used 18lb mainline and size 6 trebles to make his impressive catch.
“This is the first time this season that I’ve targeted this area and it means a lot to bank my first ‘twenty’,” James told Angling Times.