Surprise capture for match fishing ace

For many anglers, landing a 10lb carp on the pole is a right old battle and a real achievement.

So imagine being attached to a fish six times that size with just a few metres of carbon, pole elastic, line and a hook to do battle with!

That was the situation England star Lee Kerry found himself in during a trip to Poland when he landed seven monster sturgeon all over 40lb, topped by a 63lb 9oz beast, from a day-ticket lake near the village of Kamien.

Paste fished just 5m out did the damage for the Preston Innovations man, whose previous biggest fish caught on the pole was a 20lb carp from Hallcroft Fishery in Nottinghamshire.

It called for powerhouse tactics to get the sturgeon into the net as Lee used 0.30mm line, a size 2 hook and a mind-blowing 4mm diameter C-Drome Hollo elastic that has an equivalent rating of a No30 solid.

“I fished the lake last year with my friend and Polish International Adam Niemiec and caught fish to 18lb, but he told me some bigger sturgeon had been stocked since so I couldn’t wait to have a crack,” Lee explained. 

“Paste was the bait, using just enough to cover the hook. It was made up of Sonubaits One to One Krill paste stiffened with soaked halibut pellets, and I fed a slop of groundbait and micro pellets to get the fish into the peg. The idea was that when they arrived they would find only the paste.

“The whole experience was a bit surreal for someone who fishes in the UK, as I was sat on a chair with just 5m of C-Drome pole – which I think you could drive a car over and it wouldn’t break – and a ball of paste waiting for a bite,” he continued. 

“When I hooked one, Adam’s advice was to just lean back and pull hard! There was no playing of the fish as such and when it was time to net them, we waded out into the water and ‘netted’ the sturgeon using a massive scoop that the fishery supplies. To do that type of thing is a fantastic experience, but I can’t say I’d want to do it every weekend!”