46lb ASHMEAD FISH FALLS TO GUEST
Moonscale fought off otter to become venue ‘special’
AGUEST session on Ashmead gave Spencer Wright one of the venue’s most resilient residents.
The 46lb 4oz mirror, known as Moonscale, was attacked by an otter as a much younger fish, but has since gone from strength to strength.
Spencer, from the Isle of Wight, said: “I was fortunate enough to be asked to join some friends on a weekend social to this very special lake.
“I was lucky enough to have fished it a couple of years back as a guest, so I knew what a testing lake it could be.”
Plotting up in the New North swim at the Somerset venue and finding a hole in the weed, the 43-year-old had to wait until the Sunday of the weekend session for a fish to enter his water.
He said: “I estimated it to be a mid-twenty from its position low down In the water. It cruised about around the weedbeds for an hour or so, before I noticed it swirling just to the left of the spot I’d found the previous day.
“Fifteen minutes later, while attempting to take a photo of a young grebe catching rudd, my rod bent over as my Neville screeched and line was ripped from a tight clutch.”
Although the fish swam straight into a weedbed, Spencer applied pressure and walked backwards up the bank, guiding the fish into his net just two minutes after getting the bite.
He added: “The scales settled at 46lb 4oz. I was completely blown away by what was happening. I stood in the water holding her, totally in awe of the special fish and the history it had and all the anglers who had caught it over the years. For those couple of minutes, it was my time.”