Scott Cordingley had a pleasant surprise when what he assumed was a small carp turned out to be this fine 3lb 3oz perch.

Scott was enjoying a feeder fishing session on Charlie’s Match Lake, using a free-running swimfeeder filled with maggots and a worm on a size 16 Super Specialist hook to 4lb Drennan Supplex. He was casting towards an island and had already caught a few carp and roach before the specimen perch struck.

“We believed it to be another carp as the fight was un-perchlike,” he explained. “Peering into the murky margin we waited to see what it was. It flanked and we caught sight of a few stripes and a white belly. The sudden realization that I was connected to a big perch and only had a small hook on hit home! This one was beautiful in colour and perfect in fin. Tipping the scales to 3lb 3oz I was over the moon with such a fish.”