The Milton Keynes specimen hunter was fishing a Midlands reservoir and had the fish on a float-legered joey mackerel deadbait presented in around 17ft of water. After receiving a twitchy take, he was greeted by a couple of light headshakes, making him believe he’d hooked a ‘jack’. But suddenly, the weight he was attached to dramatically increased, and his rod doubled over as a powerful fish powered away.

James piled on the pressure, and an enormous pike hit the surface, leaving his heart in his mouth. Fortunately, the fish was landed without drama, and James was hit by a wave of emotion. He started pike fishing with his dad when he was 15 years old, and having lost his father around five years ago, was taken back to where it all started.

Well done James!