Spending a day on the Club Lake at Dorchester, Abingdon angler Jonny Reeve was fishing for the large head of carp and tench that inhabit the water.
But he got more than he bargained for when he came away with a huge catfish weighing 44lb 5oz.
When Jonny arrived at the water, he baited up his swim with koi pellets and corn, which he continued to feed throughout the day.
He set up his rod with a 10lb mainline with a standard bolt rig and fished a couple of 10mm fruit salad boilies attached to a hair.
Around lunchtime, he attached a PVA bag to his rig and flicked it out to about 15 feet.
Within a couple of minutes he had a run.
Jonny knew straight away he had latched on to a big cat as the rod bent double.
The fight lasted 45 minutes because of the light line he was using.
Another angler, Andy Berry, helped him land the fish.
To get a moggy of this size on light tackle was a bit of an achievement and it’s a personal best for Jonny, who I would expect to set his sights on catching an even bigger cat in the future!
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