A huge piece of bread flake was the key in the next roach capture – a chunky 2lb 10oz roach for specimen hunter, Simon Daley.

The 42-year-old roofer trotted the enticing bait along a far bank crease on a stretch of the Hampshire Avon and received a positive bite just before nightfall.

He added: “I had a take about 30 yards down the run and I knew when I set the hook it was a big fish. It surfaced half-way up the run and my legs just turned to jelly.”