"I reckon this could have been a record zander"

A LURE angler has banked what he believes to be a new British record zander – but he’ll never know for sure as he didn’t have any scales to weigh the fish. 

Robert Onicala, from Bedford, targeted the Great Ouse for a few hours after his nightshift, and although perch were his intended quarry, something much larger ended up taking his bait. 

“I caught several perch in one spot before moving to a new stretch that I’d never fished before,” he said.

“I tried a few casts when all of a sudden something smashed violently into my lure! 

“At first I thought it must be a pike, but when it came to the surface I was shocked to see it was a monster zed.”

For the next few adrenalin-fuelled minutes the 30-year-old prayed the huge predator wouldn’t snap his 8lb fluorocarbon leader, but despite a couple of powerful surges, Robert finally netted his prize.

He added:

“It was absolutely massive. I’m so gutted I didn’t have any scales or a measuring tape on me – I reckon this could have been a new  British record. 

“I’ve shown the picture to my friends and they reckon the fish is a metre long!”

The huge fish fell to a 2.8ins Keitech Swing Fatt lure.

Robert’s giant zander from the Great Ouse