It’s a huge fish, especially for the region, and was caught on a homemade paste hookbait wrapped around a small, trimmed down wafter. John fished this on a bolt rig and cast to where a deep hole in the river started to shallow up – a feature he rates for holding fish.

The bite came 20 minutes into the session and, after a mad initial 30 seconds as the fish bored hard for a nearside tree, the fish rolled on the surface, after which John was able to steer it to safety. He knew it was a good fish, but it was only when he lifted it onto the unhooking mat that he realised its true size. He says it had the biggest head of any chub he’s seen.

Well done John!