Since the turn of the year, Stephen Hall has endured eight weeks of blanks in tricky conditions, but when he arrived for a session on the Trent at the end of the season, he was pleased to see the river dropping.
Working his way through treacherous mud on the bank, he settled into a swim where he fed hemp with a bait dropper upstream and fished boilie hookbaits below.
At 8pm his rod screamed off and Stephen lifted into what he knew was a big fish, with it putting up a dogged fight in the flow.
Eventually, it broke surface, and knowing the size of it, particularly after such a long period without a bite, he was praying he’d land it safely. Thankfully, all went smoothly from there, and Stephen was soon photographing this 18lb 2oz PB – a fish that totally blew him away.
Well done Stephen!