The predator fishing potential of the River Trent has been highlighted this week with the capture of a monster 16lb 10oz zander.

The huge specimen, which falls just ounces short of a venue record for the species, was banked by Lincoln based angler Shayne Kearns who tempted it using a legered perch deadbait on a tidal stretch of the waterway in North Nottinghamshire.

Amazingly, Shayne had only started targeting the species three weeks before the life-changing session with the landing of a 7lb specimen his only previous recorded capture and only bagged his prize thanks to a bit of a hunch.

He told Angling Times: “I only started to target zander as the barbel fishing has been slow on the Trent recently I did a bit of research but I had an inkling that the zander must be in one of my regular stretches as it’s full of small silverfish like dace and roach. I had two knocks on the rod which I couldn’t really strike at. I think it must have been the same fish picking up the bait and spitting it back out and then when darkness started to fall it just ran off with the hookbait like a train. It was incredible.”

Shayne’s eye-opening catch, which was tamed on 12lb mainline and a small wire trace, was just three ounces under the species record for the Trent, an honour which is currently held by Ian Wilson for a fish which he caught back in October 2014.

“I would have probably set a new record if the fish had swallowed my hookbait” Joked Shayne. “The perch I was using was around 4oz in weight but I’m far from disappointed to have caught such a special fish. Its motivated me to go after them more often. It just goes to show the Trent isnt just about catching big barbel its full of other worthwhile species too” he added.