In a day for the history books, Tom Hobbs obliterated the River Thames match record with a sensational 297lb 3oz net of bream!
Taken on the first day of the recent three-day Thames Festival, the Drennan-backed river-ace drew the end peg on the Upper Moors section. Whilst it’s an area noted for bream, nothing could have prepared him for the five hours that followed.
“I chucked a feeder just under three quarters of the way across, having five quick casts to get a bit of bait down,” he told us.
“I hadn’t seen a single fish top, but after 25 minutes I had my first bream, and by the end of the first hour I had four in the net, with them averaging 5lb.
“From there the peg got stronger and stronger, and I wondered if I might be able to beat the record of 208lb.”
To speed up his catch rate, Tom stepped-up from his size 12 hook to a 10, on which he fished a full dendrobaena worm.
“Through a fairly large 30g feeder, I fed a 50/50 mixture of Ringers Sweet Fishmeal groundbait and brown crumb, plus casters and a bit of corn,” he told us.
“I lost track of the numbers, but in the last 38 minutes, I had 13 bream! If I didn’t get a bite in 90 seconds, it was time for a recast.
“After the weigh-in I called my wife to check the day hadn’t been a dream – I couldn’t believe what happened!”
Amazingly, on day two of the festival, Tom caught another huge net of bream, this time for a weight of 124lb 4oz.
“That catch was only enough for third in the zone, with two slightly better weights beating me,” he revealed.
“Day three was a complete contrast, as I scratched around for a net of bleak, small roach and perch for a weight of 4lb 14oz and another third in section.
“Overall, I finished fourth in the festival, but breaking the river record was a day I will remember forever.”
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