“I’ve been targeting an unpressured canal in the Thames system this winter, but after five blanks in a row I was beginning to have my doubts. But on my most recent trip, with darkness approaching, a short cast to a fry-strike on my inside margin produced the fish of my lifetime!
“I slowly dragged my TRD lure along the silt. After pausing for five seconds as it churned up the bottom, the butt of my rod hit my elbow as the lure was slammed! The fish ran for some reeds, but I managed to steer it back towards me.
“Charging about in the margins at my feet, I knew it was a four-pounder, and after one last effort to reach the bush where I hooked it, the fish was in the net.
“At 4lb 4oz, it’s a perch I’ve dreamed of catching since I was 10 years old. Landing it was utterly magical.”
