Broken rod avenged with 3lb-plus roach - Paul Scowen
“FOLLOWING a run of four blanks and breaking one of my old rods, persistence paid off when I banked this 3lb 3oz roach.
“Targeting a southern pit, I fished a maggot feeder on a helicopter set-up to tempt the specimen redfin.
“Lockdown restrictions mean that I, like everyone else, am limited to fishing days only, so I’ve been fishing short afternoon sessions when bites are most likely.
“After a drop-back bite I was delighted to land this fish after what seemed like such a long wait. I’d fished the same venue last spring and had seven roach over 3lb.”
Paul Scowen and his 3lb 3oz roach
Massive barbel landed from rising Hampshire Avon
Heavy rain and strong winds are great conditions for barbel, and river ace Simon Daley proved just why with the capture of this 17lb 3oz fish from the Hampshire Avon.
Arriving to find the river and water temperature rising, Simon introduced some bait before setting up. After landing an early 6lb 7oz specimen, the rod wrapped round again, but this time a stronger battle ensued.
He told us:
“I’ve been after a 17lb-plus barbel for three years and had fallen short by just a few ounces last season, so catching this fish made me a very happy man indeed.”
A homemade boilie fished alongside a PVA bag filled with the same baits whole and crumbed proved the downfall of this fish.
Simon Daley – 17lb 3oz barbel
Barbel best is a 'dream come true' - Aaron Bentley
“Recent downpours had caused the Thames to flood, but with rising air temperatures forecast, conditions were perfect for a big barbel so I headed to a local weir pool.
“The river was chugging through, so I clipped on my heaviest 6oz feeder before attaching a homemade boilie to the hair and casting the rig out.
“After two hours I’d only had a chub knock, so I wound in to re-bait and make my third cast. I was waiting for the feeder to settle when my rod-tip walloped over as something huge tore off with my bait!
“Over the next 20 minutes I enjoyed the hardest fight I’ve ever had, and I was convinced it was a 40lb carp. Eventually it tired, and I was able to slip my net under a gorgeous barbel.
“For the last 20 years I’ve fished for nothing but barbel. My PB has been 10lb for a decade, so to catch one of this size was a dream come true.”
Aaron Bentley – 14lb 2oz barbel
Giant chub falls for sausage hookbait
GERARD O’Sullivan proved the pulling power of Peperami when this 7lb 8oz chub snaffled his sausage hookbait during a short evening trip.
The 29-year-old had prebaited his local stretch of the River Lea with pellets and chopped Peperami before returning two days later to try his luck – but he had no idea he’d be battling a new chub personal best within 10 minutes of casting out!
“After a crazy battle this old brute popped up and headed straight for the landing net, leaving me in complete shock,” Gerard said.
“I’ve only ever caught chub to 2lb so this catch was really something special for me.”
Gerard O’Sullivan’s 7lb 8oz chub fell to a sausage hookbait
Big barbel strikes on the second cast - Sophie Costello
“The barbel fishing on my local river has been tough going in the cold, so when the air temperature shot up overnight I hoped the fish would switch on.
“Settling into my favourite swim at dusk, I cast out an inline lead with two chunks of Spam on the hook, and chucked in a handful of Scopex Squid boilies over the top.
“On my second cast my rod-tip wobbled and then slammed over!
“It had been almost two months since I’d last had a barbel, so my heart was properly racing, but I had to focus as the fish was heading straight for a snag. I pulled her away from danger just in time.
“After a few more runs she was safely landed, and that’s when I realised this was a known fish for the stretch, one I’d been desperate to catch ever since I saw pictures of her on Facebook.
“At 15lb 1oz she was a personal best by 3lb – I’m not sure any other catch I make will top that moment.”
Sophie Costello – 15lb 1oz barbel
Grebes give away monster perch hotspot
MATT Atkins’ decision to chase perch at the crack of dawn was rewarded with this enormous 5lb 2oz fish. The Bedfordshire rod had spotted two grebes diving for fry behind a weedbed 40 yards out on his local stillwater, so he cast his chopped worm and maggot-loaded feeder to the mark.
“Two hours later my bite alarm bleeped, my bobbin jingled and I set the hook into a very big fish that plodded around, shaking its head viciously,” Matt said.
“At 5lb 2oz it was a way off the 6lb 4oz specimen I caught a few months back but who’s complaining? It was my only bite, and I drove home at 11.30am a very happy man.”
Matt Atkins can thank the grebes for his latest monster perch of 5lb 2oz
Perch best saves the day!
James Champkin snatched victory from the jaws of defeat when this 4lb 7oz perch devoured his roach livebait right at the end of an otherwise blank session.
Targeting a southern lake, the 28-year-old endured several biteless hours before his left-hand rod signalled a take around 3pm.
He said:
“When a huge perch surfaced I knew I had a new PB.”
James’ rig included a sunken paternoster incorporating a size 8 Kamazan B983 hook
James Champkin and his new personal best 4lb 7oz perch
Winter campaign off to a flyer with 7lber - Adrian Eaves
“It was my first chub session on the River Thames this winter and the conditions were excellent. The river was running low and clear after the recent high levels and most of the autumn leaves littering the bottom had been washed away.
“After walking the section and feeding a few promising-looking swims with mashed bread, I headed back to the first and flicked out a lump of flake on a running lead set-up.
“No bites materialised in that swim but soon after dropping my rig into the second I had a very positive bite.
“Fortunately, it was a pretty uneventful fight in the clear water, with no snags to cause me any problems.
“It was real chunk of a chub and I was super delighted to get a 7lb-plus fish under my belt this early in the winter campaign.”
(This catch was reported before the third England lockdown)
Adrian Eaves and his 7lb 3oz Thames chub
Record crucian carp! - Will it be claimed?
MOST anglers pit their wits against perch, pike or chub in December but not Matthew Wright, who fished through freezing 30mph winds and heavy downpours to slip his net under a potential new British record crucian at 4lb 11oz.
Matthew Wright’s potential new British record crucian carp
The fine specimen was the larger of two 4lb-plus fish taken by the 37-year-old during an overnight stay on a Surrey stillwater – where the terrible conditions at one point left him questioning his sanity… and clinging to his bivvy!
Reassurance that he’d made the right decision targeting the quintessential summer species finally came at 11.30pm, when a positive run resulted in a 4lb 4oz stunner that smashed his 3lb 9oz PB.
This 4lb 4oz crucian also found its way to Matthew’s net
But before he even had chance to bask in the glory of his achievement, an even larger fish tore off with his hookbait.
“At first I thought it was a carp, but then I felt the tell-tale nodding on the rod-tip, and when the fish surfaced in the beam of my headtorch I caught sight of the flank of a gigantic crucian,” Matthew said.
“As I guided it in, I just kept saying ‘oh my God, don’t fall off’, and I was shaking like mad when it finally went over the net cord – the size of the fish was just ridiculous.”
Matthew weighed the crucian three times on his Reuben Heaton digital scales in the presence of three other anglers, each time registering a weight of 4lb 11oz.
Despite making the Angling Trust aware of his catch, Matthew – who works as a fishery bailiff – remains unsure about whether he will yet submit a claim to the British Record Fish Committee, and said he was just happy knowing he’d caught a potential record.
He added:
“A lot of the credit goes to my missus, who finally gave me permission to go fishing after a couple of months of helping to look after our newborn baby!
“For 30 years I’ve targeted crucians and have caught them in -3°C before, but I never ever expected to break my personal best twice in a single December session.”
Both Matthew’s crucians fell to Method feeders and double fake caster hookbaits fished over a bed of hemp and mixed 3mm pellets at 30 yards range.
First 7lb chub comes from high and coloured river - Craig Hall
“The Thames was up and coloured, but I thought there could be a chance of a chub. Fishing close to some snags, I introduced a few handfuls of Elips pellet, boilie halves and worm extract with a bait dropper and fished hardened bloodworm dumbbells.
“Just on dark, my rod rattled off and I bent into a heavy weight. When I got the chub on to the scales, I was buzzing to see I’d caught my first-ever seven!”
Craig Hall – 7lb 1oz chub
PB Thames barbel during brutal weather conditions
Laurence Hook was rewarded for fishing through driving wind and rain with a new personal-best barbel of 16lb 12oz from the River Thames.
The Oxfordshire angler cast a cage feeder filled with dampened pellets alongside a Bait-Tech Hybrid barbel pellet hookbait into the centre of the river on a fast-flowing stretch of the Thames near his home.
He said:
“I got absolutely soaked but this fish was more than a reward for sitting through those conditions!”
Laurence Hook – 16lb 12oz barbel
Four perch for nearly 16lb!
LEE McManus hit the perch jackpot during his latest visit to a Midlands stillwater by catching four big stripeys for a total weight of 15lb 10oz.
By fishing half a lobworm on a running leger rig at range over a bed of chopped worm, caster and groundbait, the specimen-hunter from Leicestershire received four bites in quick succession resulting in perch of 3lb 5oz, 3lb 9oz, 4lb 1oz and 4lb 11oz.
He told us:
“The largest perch was a special fish as it beat my long-standing PB of 4lb 9oz, which I’d managed to match three times from three different venues until this session.”
Lee McManus and his biggest perch of 4lb 11oz
Monster Avon chub falls on the pin - Darryl Hughes
“I took a couple of days’ leave from work to have a go at catching a big chub from the Hampshire Avon.
“On my first day off I drove to a favourite stretch of mine with a bag of boilies and baited a few bends, overhanging trees and slacks with the plan of returning the following day to fish them in turn.
“Arriving early, I started fishing and spent an hour in each spot before moving on – but I just couldn’t get anything to take my paste-wrapped boilie.
“The daylight was slowly slipping away, but I was determined to catch so I clipped an isotope on to the end of my rod and dropped into a swim on the bend of the river which had a deep hole close in.
“I lowered down my rig, and roughly 15 minutes later the ratchet on my centrepin reel spun away and I struck into a heavy lump that kited straight into the main flow.
“At first I thought it was a barbel from the way it took off, but I was able to guide it into some slack water where I lifted the fish’s head to reveal the unmistakable ‘gob’ of a chub, and a big one at that.
“She went into the net and the first thing I noticed was the size of the belly on it. It was the fattest chub I’d ever seen!”
Darryl Hughes and his 7lb 4oz chub
Monster River Trent pike goes over 30lb!
THIRTY-pound pike from the Trent are rare, but James Wainwright hit the jackpot on an early-morning trip with this 33lb 6oz fish.
The Leicestershire-based rod float-legered a popped-up pollan deadbait into a slack off the main flow.
“As I set the hooks the water boiled on the surface before all hell broke loose,” he said.
“After a 15-minute battle she was netted on the third time of asking.”
James Wainwright and his 33lb 6oz River Trent pike
7lb-plus chub result of early start - Trevor Pole
“AFTER spending the last two months chasing bream on a massive pit I decided to target some Great Ouse chub for a change. I headed to a stretch I’d not fished before and baited a few swims with cheesepaste. I had two chub to 5lb 8oz in one swim, so I decided to stay in my van overnight and get up early to fish it again.
“At dawn I flicked my link-legered paste to the far-bank slack and had two small chub before my tip whacked round again. It was a lovely plump chub, but I was wearing my reading glasses and didn’t think it would go over 7lb! It was only when I got it on the unhooking mat and took off my glasses that I realised its true size.”
Trevor Pole – 7lb 6oz chub
16-year wait for a 2lb roach ends with two in five days!
A PAIR of pink maggots trotted into a large eddy accounted for this clonking 2lb 13oz Hampshire Avon roach for specimen-hunter Tony Sweeney.
It was the larger of two hefty specimens banked by the redfin fanatic during the same week – the other, weighing 2lb 11oz, was taken during a visit to a private stretch the river near Fordingbridge.
Tony said:
“I caught my last 2lb roach around 16 years ago, but I’ve now had two within five days of each other!”
Tony Sweeney – 2lb 13oz roach
Dream comes true with giant grayling - Matthew Fernandez
“My 25-year-long dream of catching a monster grayling was finally realised. With conditions looking spot-on I headed to the River Frome and began baiting up with maggots.
“My first four trots with the float produced four big trout, so I was worried the swim would now be devoid of fish, but I knew grayling can get pushed back so I decided to persevere.
“I was right, as on the very next trot down the swim my float slid under and all hell broke loose!
“From start to finish I was praying this fish wouldn’t drop off. Thankfully, luck was on my side and this magnificent Lady of the Stream graced my net. Never before in my life have I been in awe of a fish, but this has got to be my favourite capture of all time.”
Matthew Fernandez and his dream 2lb 15oz grayling
Small pellets for big barbel
YOU don’t always need big baits to catch big fish, as Pat Dower proved by banking a 17lb 7oz tidal Trent barbel on double 8mm pellets.
The West Yorkshire rod fed just a few pellets in PVA bags to tempt the fish, alongside nine others including seven doubles.
“It was a champagne session for sure,” Pat said.
Pat Dower’s 17lb 7oz barbel from the River Trent
Stunning canal pike strikes at dawn - George Sparkes
“AN HOUR before sunrise I arrived at my local Louth Canal and, with the water having a nice chocolate colour and a bit of a flow to it, I was confident of a few bites.
“Just before sunrise I dropped in my popped-up lamprey head on a running rig and sat back to enjoy the dawn surroundings, but was interrupted half-an hour later by my screaming bite alarm.
“I struck the rod and hit into a pike that I knew was a decent size, because for 10 minutes it fought hard and wouldn’t budge from the bottom.
“Finally it surfaced and revealed its beautiful colours, but the nerves set in, as this was a pike I really didn’t want to lose.
“On my first attempt at netting it, the fish decided to jump and motor back down the canal and I thought I might have lost her, but with a little persuasion she was soon back in front of me and heading towards the net.
“At 22lb 3oz it wasn’t the biggest fish I’ve caught, but it’s one of the prettiest, and the best of nine landed that day.”
George Sparkes and his 22lb 3oz canal pike
"The nicest-looking perch I’ve ever caught" - Dan Eaves
“HAVING only caught one perch during a previous trip to Grafham Water (albeit 4lb 4oz), I decided to have one more session on there to try and locate some more.
“Despite conditions being ideal, the day turned out to be another struggle and I couldn’t make any breakthrough!
“With only 30 minutes of fishing time left, I persevered with an Inspired Angling Magic Worm lure presented on a Ned rig and cast it out.
“Suddenly my line tightened, and I was in! The fight wasn’t as intense as the last one, but it turned out to be a 4lb 3oz perch – probably the nicest-looking one I’ve ever caught.”
Dan Eaves and his 4lb 3oz Grafham perch