52lb of bleak secures win from unfavourable peg

A STAGGERING 52lb 5oz of bleak sealed victory in the star-studded Wye Champs for river ace Hadrian Whittle.

The contest, fished on a rapidly rising river, turned out to be the perfect storm for a big weight of bleak, which was Hadrian’s only real chance of victory after drawing an unfavourable peg.

“I was placed on permanent peg 28 on Belmont 1, which is known as one of the last places you want to draw!

“However, with a rapidly rising river I was fairly happy, because I knew there was a chance that the bleak would come into play,” he said.

After a slow start and a look on the feeder, Hadrian switched back to a 2.5m whip and caught 600 bleak before switching to a 1.6m whip and catching another 930.

“By this time, I was flying,” Hadrian added,

“and I checked my watch to see there was an hour and 20 minutes left. In this time I had another 530 fish!”

Hadrian Whittle and his 52lb bag of bleak