A ROACH that could have smashed the British record has been landed from a small pool in Shropshire.
Elliott Norton (13) was fishing at Bow House Country Park, where there’s private fishing for those staying on site, when his Method feeder-fished 8mm wafter was picked up by the massive redfin. It weighed 4lb 8oz – comfortably bigger than the current official record of 4lb 4oz.
“My mum had only given me two hours to fish, so I took my grandad’s 8ft leger rod and cast tight to the far bank where I’d seen fish fizzing,” Elliott told us. “After a lost fish and several indications, on my eighth cast the rod-tip bent round. I played the fish for about two minutes, suspecting it to be a tench, but to my delight it was this massive roach!”
After landing it, Elliott weighed the fish and managed a quick self-take photo before releasing it.
“I now know that I should have got the lake manager and bailiff to witness the catch, had it weighed on a couple of different sets of scales and got more photographic evidence,” he added.
“But hindsight is a wonderful thing, and I’m still pleased to have caught something so special. I’m relatively new to fishing but I’ve truly caught the bug – I go as often as possible.”
