With only a short winter predator season on a large Midlands water where he purchased a ticket this winter, Dave Mower knew that he’d have to put his heart and soul into the fishing to catch a decent fish.
Over his first 12 sessions, the largest fish he had landed was a big ‘three’, and Dave started to wonder if he was wasting his time, but on a recent session his efforts were rewarded in style with this specimen of 5lb 5oz. Dragging a Rapala Crush City NED slowly along the bottom, pausing for up to 20 seconds at a time, he had a delicate bite – his first in what seemed like forever – and struck into a heavy fish.
After an intense fight, during the fish made powerful lunges and stripped line, he finally saw bright red fins and dark stripes near the surface. Once in the net, Dave called a mate over to witness the weighing, with the fish measuring 48cm and having impressive width across the back.
Well done Dave!