Was this giant bullhead a record breaker?

LURE fishing fanatic Nick Firth reckons he banked a British record bullhead – but we’ll never know because he slipped it back, thinking it wouldn’t register on his scales!

The 52-year-old from Holmfirth was drop shotting a dendrobaena worm next to a lock gate on the Huddersfield Canal when he received a tentative bite from what he suspected was a small perch.

“When this jet-back thing popped out of the water I couldn’t believe what I was looking at,” Nick said.

“In 40 years of fishing I’d never seen one, let alone caught one, but I recognised what it was and posted a picture on Facebook. 

“Comments poured in saying that the record was just 1oz and that I had a decent claim, but it was too late. I reckon mine was around the 2oz-3oz mark!”

The mini-monster that could have broken a record

Could this have been another record fish?

AFTER a remarkable six months during which potential new British Record crucian, perch and carp have been banked, could a possible fourth history-making fish be on the cards?

Jack Bytheway, captor of this monster ruffe, certainly thinks so. Hailing from Walsall, Jack caught the spiky specimen, measuring 15cm long, on a lure during a trip to his local canal.

“Me and my mate were fishing for perch in the hope of a few bites” he told us.

“It was a new stretch of canal with an old mooring that was full of silverfish. I was retrieving the lure really slowly when I felt a tiny snatch at it. When the fish hit again, I struck.

“I thought it was some kind of perch hybrid, but after showing my mate he revealed the potential magnitude of the catch I’d just made.”

The current British Record ruffe stands at 5oz 4dr, and although Jack didn’t weigh his catch, he’s certain his fish was close to that weight.

“We took a few pictures and released it. But at 15cm long and very fat, I’m 100 per cent sure it was around the record weight.”

Jack Bytheway’s ruffe, was it a record breaker?