On a recent river fishing trip, Dave Robinson slipped the net under what could well be the biggest bream ever banked from running water in the UK – this magnificent slab weighing 15lb 8oz.
After getting the call that he had secured a ticket to fish the mighty King's Weir stretch on the River Lea, Dave couldn't wait and decided to get down there for an early evening session to get a feel for the stretch, deciding to rove around with some lobworms to try and catch anything.
"Kings Weir has been fished for decades by some very good anglers, so I knew it would take more than just bouncing a few worms around in some likely-looking swims to catch anything," Dave told us.
"After a fruitless few hours, I was heading back to the car and decided to fish two last swims slightly higher up the stretch, where I hadn’t been yet"
"Shortly after casting out in the last swim, I received a delicate tap on the tip, but at first, I thought I was imagining it. I didn’t think there was any chance, especially considering how much water I had already covered."
"The indication continued, so I lifted into what could only be described as a dead weight. I knew it was a fish but was sure it wasn’t a barbel. Maybe it was foul-hooked. Maybe it didn’t realise it was hooked," Dave recalled.
"Everything went through my mind as I waited to get my first glimpse under the torchlight. Eventually, the beast surfaced, and my initial thought was that it was one of the bream, as it kited round to my right like a carrier bag."
After holding out in the flow, Dave managed to navigate the fish upstream and shuffle it into the net. Seeing it was a bream, he tried to lift the fish out of the water and initially thought the fish was snagged on a bramble such was the unexpected weight in his landing net.
"I knew there weren’t many bream at Kings Weir, but it hadn’t crossed my mind that it could be the big one," he said.
"After speaking to Andy at the house and him giving me a brief description, we confirmed what it was, and he came down to take photos."
"Beating my personal best from last winter on the Lea by 2lb, it weighed 15lb 8oz and is, hands down, the biggest river bream I will ever catch. A true flowing-water giant!" Dave concluded.
A PAIR OF THE BEST FISHING BOOTS WILL KEEP YOU COMFORTABLE WHEN WALKING THE RIVERBANK!
