PIKE

THE mighty Chew Valley Reservoir has had one of its best-ever seasons, with an incredible number of big pike for visiting anglers.

It produced seven weekly Drennan Awards in total, one of the best being Derek Beagley’s sensational 40lb 2oz predator.

The Londoner battled for over 20 minutes with the huge fish after tempting it using a fly.

The 59-year-old, who broke his previous best by nearly 20lb with the capture, said: “I was twitching the small bait along the bottom in around 8ft of water when a huge fished grabbed it and everything went scarily solid.

“When it broke the surface, me and my boat partner just looked at each other like we had seen a ghost!”