The fish was landed by Rotherham angler, John Drabble, who lives just a minute’s drive from the waterway. The Rother flows into the Don and was once said to be the third worst polluted river in Europe, during South Yorkshire’s industrial peak. But it’s clear that fish are thriving now, as John certainly knows. He’s caught barbel to 10lb from the venue before but says the sight of this fish was a memory he’ll ‘takes to the grave’. He caught it on a large lump of luncheon meat from a deep, slow flowing stretch.

Well done John!