Historically, UK anglers have had to travel abroad to tangle with huge sturgeon, often visiting places like the Fraser River in Canada to land these prehistoric giants. However, British waters now hold more big fish than ever, as Philip Lane and Matthew Glover recently demonstrated by landing a brace of sturgeon with a combined weight of over 260lb.
"Shortly before Christmas, Matt Glover and I were invited to fish a new, privately owned lake that potentially holds some of the biggest freshwater fish in the UK," Phil revealed.
"With only short day sessions possible at this time of year, we arranged to fish two days—one just before Christmas Day and one just after."
"Our first session on an unfamiliar lake meant we had to prepare a variety of rigs, baits, and strategies. We decided to fish one rod over bait and use a reactive bait on the other, moving it around the swim as conditions dictated," he added.
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"Matt started with meat, while I opted for a large mackerel fillet. Three of our four baits were placed in marginal spots since sturgeon, even in winter, love to explore the edges. Matt, however, cast a big bait into a much deeper part of the lake."
Within an hour of casting in, Philip received a take on his marginal rod. As soon as he lifted into the fish, there was an enormous eruption, and the fish rocketed off into the middle of the lake without stopping. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, the fish came off. However, there wasn’t much time to dwell on the disappointment, as friend Matt soon landed a 12lb fish, getting them off to a great start.
"We were just starting to pack up slowly when, Matt’s deep rod came to life with a steady run. When he hit it, the fish’s response was so powerful that he was almost pulled in," Philip recounted.
"Matt battled the fish with his rod arced over for nearly half an hour before I managed to grab its tail and help land a huge beluga, last weighed at 140lb."
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Their next trip couldn’t come soon enough. "Over the holidays, I revised my plan countless times," Philip admitted.
"I’d hooked a monster from the marginal spot last time, so one rod was definitely staying there while the other would be roving. Matt had similar plans for his swim."
Again, Philip didn't have to wait long before he received another take from his rod placed in the margins. As before, once the fish realised it had been hooked, it made a break for freedom and headed out to the middle of the lake.
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"Fortunately, being a new lake, the vegetation allowed me to follow the fish around the bank and slowly slow it down and turn it," he said.
"After about 15 minutes, I found myself 100 yards from my swim, but she had started to tire, and Matt managed to tail her on the second attempt. A huge beluga, over 120lbs when last weighed, was my prize."
"Over the moon as I was to have finally broken the 100lb barrier for a UK beluga, I was fortunate enough to go on to land a 20lb Siberian sturgeon, while Matt had a very nice 40lb beluga. Finally, at the end of the day, Rosie made another appearance on my rod."
"We were both elated by the results from our first two sessions and are hoping another invite comes before too long," he said.
