GEORGE SHARP could have come close to the British dace record with this huge 1 lb-plus specimen – but didn’t have any scales with him.
The 21-year-old sports coach was on a secret local river when he landed the monster dace.
It could easily push the 1 lb 5 oz 2 dr official dace best caught by Simon Ashton back in 2002 from Durham’s River Wear.
Poole, Dorset-based George explained: “I was fishing with a friend on a local chalkstream and caught a dace that was easily the biggest I’ve ever seen in the flesh.
“Unfortunately I didn’t have any scales with me but I did get some decent photos of it and comparing it to previously featured dace in Angler’s Mail it was well over the 1 lb mark.
“My personal best before this was just under 14 oz and this definitely considerably larger.
“It was one of about 35 dace in that session all ranging from about 4-12 oz, with the exception of this one.
“I also had some brown trout, salmon parr, sea trout and a couple grayling.
“All fish that session were on sweetcorn under an alloy stick float bulk shotted and a small dropper shot above the hook and using a 40-year-old centrepin.
“It would be interesting to see what the fish weighed at the back end of the season when they are at their heaviest,” concluded George.
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