Fishing a paste-wrapped 10mm halibut pellet below a feeder filled with a mix of hemp, groundbait and small pellets, Alex recast regularly to a gravel spit he found at the start of the session.

After four hours his rod flew round and he struck into what felt like a big, heavy weight that didn’t do much until it was under the rod tip, where it went on a series of short, powerful runs.

After landing the fish, Alex let it recover in the net whilst he called fishery manager, Andy Tredgett to come down and weigh the fish.