Steve Fenton thought he’d hooked a carp when his alarm screamed out during a session on a pit in the Lea Valley. 

The experienced 64-year-old, specialist from Herts banked the fish-of-a-lifetime after it took three floating maggots that were threaded onto a size 12 hook and fished in conjunction with a maggot feeder.

He also landed another tench weighing 8lb 15oz that was also searching for food at the back of a gravel plateaux at 35 yards.

“This is such a special fish for me and to say that I’m over the moon is an understatement. It’s taken a while to sink in,” he said.