Huge roach from famed carp water

This 2lb 14oz roach proves that specimen fisheries hold much more than just big carp.

Captor Luke Sparkes was fishing a carp match on Brasenose 2 on the award-winning Linear Fisheries in Oxfordshire when he hooked the fish of a lifetime.

The Grimsby rod cast out a small bunch of maggots over a bed of red grubs that he’d introduced 120 yards out on the venue which has an ever-growing reputation for producing big roach, bream and tench.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when the big roach popped up. This is a truly special fish to me,” he said.

“Even though I was after carp I aim to fish with rigs that give me the chance of catching other species too, as I class myself as an all-round angler.”