A claim has been submitted to the British Record Fish Committee for a new record pike, following the shock capture of a 47lb 5oz giant from Chew Valley Lakes.
The catch has made national news, as it potentially breaks a record set back in 1992!
Here, we look back at other record captures from days gone by that sent shockwaves through the sport…
James Benfield - 21lb 5oz zander, 2007
Just two weeks into the river season, 19-year-old James Benfield cast a halibut pellet into the River Severn at Upper Lode in the hope of catching some bream.
Just two hours later the Tewkesbury-based rod was cradling a UK record zander that sent the specimen fishing world into meltdown.
It was, after all, the first 20lb-plus zander to have been caught in the UK.
FIND THE BEST ZANDER FISHING VENUES NEAR YOU IN THIS WHERE TO FISH GUIDE.
Matt Micallef, 9lb 2oz chub, 2006
One October afternoon in 2006 Matt Micallef became the first person in the history of the sport to land a chub over 9lb when he caught a giant of a fish from a tiny one-acre private lake connected to the River Thames.
Didcot-based Matt was on a pike fishing session when he spotted the huge chub and decided to quickly change his rig and flick out a piece of bread, which the fish readily accepted.
It smashed the old national best for the species of 8lb 14oz.
IMPROVE YOUR CHUB FISHING WITH THESE EXPERT TIPS.
Steve Terry, 11lb 2oz eel, 1978
It's the longest-standing record in coarse fishing, with no eel capture coming close to toppling Steve Terry’s monster 11lb 2oz specimen, banked during the summer of 1978.
The impressive creature, which was taken on a boilie hookbait from Kingfisher Lake in Hampshire during a carp fishing session, obliterated the old best for the species by a whopping 2lb 8oz!
LEARN MORE ABOUT SPECIMEN EEL FISHING IN THIS EXPERT ANGLING.
Dean Rawlings, 5lb 9oz 8dr perch, 2002
In possibly the greatest surprise catch of all time, 11-year old Dean Rawlings landed a giant perch from the unknown commercial fishery known as Glebe Lake, at Fringford, Oxfordshire.
It took a bunch of maggots crammed on a size 6 hook tied directly to 10lb line while the schoolboy was reeling in his rig!
GET THE BEST ADVICE FOR SPECIMEN PERCH FISHING IN THIS EXPERT ARTICLE.
Colin Smithson, 21lb 2oz barbel, 2019
In an era when the Trent and Thames dominate barbel fishing, Colin Smithson’s record from a Sussex river reminds us of angling’s unpredictability.
He used a Banjo feeder to make his remarkable catch – a pattern of feeder more commonly used on commercials to catch carp!
YOU WILL NEED THIS TACKLE TO LAND A RECORD BARBEL. CHECK OUT OUR BEST ROD GUIDE.
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