Top specimen roach landed

Dave Brice was celebrating after he banked the fish of a lifetime in the shape of this pristine 2lb 13oz roach.

The 52-year-old from Coventry had set himself the daunting challenge of breaking the 2lb barrier this winter, and he exceeded all expectations with the huge fish.

It turned up during a session at a gravel pit in Oxfordshire.

After laying down a bed of maggots with his feeder, Dave cast a helicopter rig over the top with two grubs on a size 16 Kamasan hook.

“I’ve been fishing for 45 years and I decided to have a crack at catching a big roach,” Dave told Angling Times.

 “But nothing could have prepared me for the sight of this beautiful, big roach sliding over the frame of my net.”

---