Angling records in the United Kingdom

This is an impartial (not implicitly biased to a single governing body, the BRFC) and comprehensive record list of 324 British record fish caught in freshwater, past and present, involving 64 species/sub-species of fish caught using the traditional angling method of rod and line. Records include the angler, species, weight, date, venue, also referenced with a recognizable publication. The list is intended to include all categories of fish caught by anglers, that enter freshwater including (coarse and game fish) and some migratory sea fish. The time since last record fish was caught is .

Current records supported by photographic evidence

Current records not supported by any photographic evidence

Record endangered species

Record ornamental sub-species

Record non-indigenous (invasive) species

Historical records

Anglers who have held multiple British records

• Alan Pearson 5 (Rainbow x 3, Brook x 2),
• Dennis Flack 4 (Bitterling, Bleak, Silver Bream, Stickleback )
• Martin Bowler 3 (Barbel, Crucian, Grass carp)
• Neville Fickling 3 (Pike, Zander x 2),
• Grahame King 3 (Barbel x 3),
• Colin Hebb 3 (Ide x 3),
• Richard Walker 2 (Carp, Rainbow),
• Bill Penny 2 (Roach, Orfe)
• Reverend Edward C Alston 2 (Tench, Rudd)
• Mr F.W.K Wallis 2 (Barbel, Chub)
• Simon Lavin 2 (Bream, Grass carp)
• Neill Stephen 2 (Chub, Perch)
• Mat Faulkner 2 (Silver bream, Stickleback)
• Tony Gibson 2 (Barbel x 2)
• Alastair Nicholson 2 (Bream x 2)
• Stuart Morgan 2 (Barbel x 2)

Ambiguous record claims (no venue given / not accepted / expunged)

There have been many ambiguous record claims over the years. Here are a few of those that never made the record list:

• 5 oz 8 dr bleak caught by David Selley on the River Lark 2017. Rejected as a hybrid by BRFC.
• 38 lb Ferox brown trout caught by old Willie Maule. Evidence destroyed by fire.
• 8 lb burbot largest ever recorded in England, caught from the river Trent around 1700–1800. No date/also method of capture unknown.
• 83 lb 4 oz mirror carp called Big Plated caught from Wingham syndicate carp lake in Kent, November 2017. No record claimed - angler wanted no publicity.
• 10 lb 8 oz chub caught from the River Annan in 1955 by Dr. J. A. Cameron. Not authenticated with photo or body scales for examination.
• 5 lb 2 oz crucian caught by Mick Phillips at an undisclosed club lake in Hampshire, August 2021. Assume no DNA presented.
• 1 lb 6 oz dace caught from a Nene tributary February 2016. Angler's name unknown and no record claimed.
• 13 lb 1 oz eel caught by Dave Saunders at Idenwood Fishery, East Sussex in 2010. No independent witnesses.
• 9 lb golden orfe (estimated) caught by Bob Roberts at Anglers Paradise, Devon in February 2009. Not weighed.
• 5 lb grayling caught by Dave Williams from the River Severn near Newtown, Wales, in 2010. Captor ate the evidence with chips and no independent witnesses.
• 6 oz gudgeon caught by Ashley Bennett from the River Wandle in 2016. Not weighed.
• 1 lb 3 oz 4 dr lamprey (river) caught by S.Clews from River Severn in May 1924. No confirmation this fish was caught by rod and line method.
• 6 lb  oz perch caught by angler known as Bill from River Thames in March 2014. Assumed reason is lack of independent witnesses.
• 70 lb pike (the largest ever) found dead at River Endrick/Loch Lomond in 1934. Not caught by rod and line.
• 5 lb 2 oz rudd caught by Adrian Cannon from a fenland drain 2012. No independent witnesses.
• 69 lb 12 oz salmon caught by William Home, 8th Earl of Home from the River Tweed in 1730.

Video footage of chub and carp records

• Dean Fletcher's 68 lb 1 oz British record carp, called The Parrot, about to be weighed, January 2016 courtesy of Twitter.
• Neill Stephen's 9 lb 5 oz British record-equaling chub of 2012 at the weigh in, courtesy of YouTube.
• Oz Holness's 67 lb 8 oz British record carp, named Two Tone, being weighed in, 2008 courtesy of YouTube.

Non-indigenous (invasive) alien species

These fish are classed as a significant risk to our native species and if caught must be removed immediately to protect the wider environment and should be reported to the Environment Agency (EA). Anyone found introducing non indigenous (invasive) species to any external body of UK water will be breaching the Import of Live Fish (England and Wales) Act 1980 and will be prosecuted. The fish in question include: black bullhead catfish (Ameiurus melas), doctor fish (Garra rufa), fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii), sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus), topmouth gudgeon (Pseudorasbora parva), sunbleak (Leucaspius delineatus), and walleye (Sander vitreus).

• Note that this does not apply to non-indigenous fish which are included on the main record list which are carp, crucian carp, goldfish, grass carp, ide, orfe, pumpkinseed, rainbow trout, wels catfish, and zander, which are now considered to be naturalized.

Notes

• Note 1 see Angling records of Europe.
• Note 2 * - This is possibly one of the many records rejected by the BRFC when it was decided to nullify most of the existing British record fish in the purge of 1968, due to lack of creditable evidence.
• Note 3 This fish is listed as either extinct in the UK only , critically endangered species IUCN status , endangered species IUCN status , vulnerable species IUCN status , by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
• Note 4 - It is assumed that wels catfish records were suspended by the BRFC in 2000 due to suspected importation of a fish near to or over the British Record, which could also quite possibly be an infringement of Import of Live Fish (England and Wales) Act 1980.
• Note 5 - No records have been found for pollan (Coregonus pollan) which are found only in Northern Ireland, listed as an endangered species IUCN status .
• Note 6 - No records have been found for spined loach (Cobitis taenia).
• Note 7 - See non indigenous (invasive) species above.
• Note 8 - This record is or was not recognised by the BRFC.
• Note 9 - Natural river species (chub, barbel, grayling) will not be recognized when caught in Stillwater, as considered cultivated in a non-natural environment.
• Note 10 - No photographic evidence has been published.
• Note 11 - Possible misidentification of species by BRFC, as similar fish caught 21 years later identified as Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus).

References