Five-foot-long river monster banked from the Trent


by Freddie Sandford |
Updated on

Over recent seasons we’ve seen numerous large sturgeon reported from the River Trent, but this specimen could be the biggest of the lot, estimated to weigh well over 50lb.

It was landed by Nottinghamshire angler Jamie Thornley, who was targeting carp when he hooked the fish on boilie hookbait.

Upon weighing the sturgeon, it bottomed out his scales at 50lb!

“I never expected to catch something so big in a UK river, hence why I don’t carry more heavy-duty scales, and am gutted I couldn’t get an official weight – it was five-feet long!” Jamie told us.

“I think it weighed a lot more but couldn’t wait for someone to bring another set of scales as I wanted to get it back as quickly as possible.”

Prior to the catch, Jamie had been landing bream after bream, but when he had a screaming take, I knew he’d hooked something bigger.

“When I lifted the rod and felt the weight of it, I had a feeling it might’ve been a sturgeon, as they do get caught from this area,” he explained.

“When the fish jumped out of the water, I knew exactly what it was, and once in my net, I couldn’t believe what I had caught. After a few snaps, it swam back strongly.”

HERE IS A COMPLETE GUIDE TO HELP YOU FISH THE RIVER TRENT...

Jamie with the enormous sturgeon
Just so you know, we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this website - read why you should trust us