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Enormous ide banked from historic chalk stream

by Freddie Sandford |

Published on26th December 2025 at 9.00am

Southern chalk streams, such as the River Itchen in Hampshire, are best known for their trout and grayling fishing, but they also offer some incredible coarse angling. While the river is home to prolific numbers of chub, roach, and barbel, local angler Lee Edmond-Hiett managed to land a surprising fish that has been appearing in a number of rivers across the UK.

“I recently caught this 5lb 2oz ide from the River Itchen. At the time, I was targeting chub on the feeder with maggots when the rod-tip started bouncing quite a lot.

“The fight was different, the fish giving heavy headshakes, and initially I thought it was a big roach.

“However, I was amazed to see this ide go into the net! I believe it’s the biggest ever known to come out of this chalk stream.”

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Lee with his ide

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