Top specimens kick off Superb September

The nation’s specialists have kicked off what is traditionally the best month for fishing with a flurry of impressive fish banked in a superb week.

Topping them all was Northamptonshire’s Andy West, who netted five stunning rudd over 2lb to a best of 3lb 1oz 8dr.

Fishing a late evening session on a backwater of the River Nene, the Wellingborough specimen-hunter broke his pb twice when he got a small shoal feeding on corn.

He said: “I fed two or three grains of corn every minute or so but after 20 minutes I just had to make my first cast. I waggler-fished three grains of corn 18ins deep and then the bright tip disappeared.

“I connected with a solid fish and after a quick but hard fight, a 2lb 14oz 8dr golden rudd lay in my net – I was over the moon after beating my previous best of 2lb 9oz 8dr.”

The action didn’t end there either, as Andy explained: “I’d had three more 2lb fish as darkness closed in then added a starlight to my float-tip in attempt to get one more bite.” 

“Within five minutes I connected with the rudd I was really after – a fish of 3lb 1oz 8dr, which weeded me twice before I brought it in.”

“I stayed the night and retained the fish in deep flowing water until around 7am, when my son in law and wife arrived to photograph the fish.

Big rudd weren’t the only species on the feed in ‘Super September’, either as predator ace Michal Belan proved with the capture of a 4lb 1oz perch. 

Targeting a sunken tree on a stretch of the River Wye near Hereford, Michal flicked a 4cm shad mounted onto a 4g jighead tight to the structure and received a powerful hit.

He said: “The bite was visually stunning as all the little bait fish in the swim scattered when this big perch came out of nowhere and engulfed my lure.

“I’ve caught one bigger perch from this river before but this catch was by far the best of my life.”