UK record broken by 65lb Tarka from Shropshire’s The Avenue

Tarka at 65lb 2oz falls to Rob Hales at his own Avenue syndicate

THIS is the first 65lb common to be caught in Britain.

The 65lb 2oz beast, known as Tarka, was caught by Rob Hales during a rare session on his own Avenue syndicate in Shropshire.

The male fish was attacked by an otter in one of Rob’s stock ponds and was transferred to the lake at a weight of 38lb in 2010.

“As a rough calculation it’s probably 15 years old,” Rob told Carpfeed. “It’s gone from an upper thirty to 65lb in eight years.”

The capture followed a series of eerily accurate predictions from Rob. In a call to Carpfeed the day before he caught the fish, he said: “This is just my third day on the lake this year. I’ve come today because conditions are absolutely bang on. There’s a light westerly breeze, low cloud and a bit of drizzle and rain.”

Less than 18 hours later he was cradling the biggest British common ever, after another couple of predictions came true.

He said: “I was fishing quite a tight clutch and the rod just tightened up. I think I got to it before it could take any line.

“Yesterday I watched an angler playing a fish on the opposite bank and from the way he was playing it I said it would be the mirror known as Sweet Cheeks – and it was, at 58lb 12oz!

“With the way my fish was fighting I said to my two mates, ‘I’m not going to tell you which one I think it is, but if it is that one it’s going to smash my pb’.

“It was actually such a bright morning, with the sun bouncing off the water, that it was difficult to see exactly what was happening as it went into the net.”

Rob used his own Edge bait and caught the fish on a wafter over a couple of kilos of matching freebies. He fished at 18 wraps from Pete’s Point.