Simon Irvine had been targeting a small fenland drain in search of some monster rudd and had caught a number of fish over the 2lb mark over the past few weeks.

But on a recent walk he spotted a group of bigger fish sitting on the far margin, tight against some rushes just above the weed. Simon put a few pieces of bread in and they were taken almost instantly.

“I got the gear from the car and found an area roughly 15 yards above the fish which looked like I could get down to net them if I was to hook one. I saw a big swirl on the near margin so cast a piece of flake out on a size 12 hook attached to a 4g pellet waggler. It didn’t take long before the fish took it, after a good fight which saw me wrestle through a few nettles, and getting wet feet I netted the lovely specimen and nearly fell in completely with shock when I saw it bring the scales round to 3lb 2oz” he added.