A day-ticket fishery has produced a handful of perch of-a-lifetime with huge fish weighing 5lb 4oz and 5lb 1oz.

Thames Water’s Farmoor Reservoir is known to be a tough nut to crack but Paul Parnell and Angling Times columnist Paul Garner more than proved the predator potential of this vast 400-acre fishery that’s split into two lakes known as No 1 and No2.

Reading’s Paul Parnell broke his personal best twice when he used a ‘ned’ rig to land a brace of ‘fives’ that were backed up with fish weighing 4lb 3oz, 4lb 2oz and 3lb 15oz.

All of his fish were taken when he worked four-inch  Zman Finesse Shadz at the Oxfordshire venue and his biggest perch measured 49 cm in length.

“The fact that you can come to a fishery like this, pay your day ticket and catch fish like this is incredible,” Paul told Angling Times.

“One perch over 5lb is something special, but to have two is just really hard to believe. It’s still sinking in.”