Eamonn Deeley, from Cowley, Oxford, equalled his personal best river pike with this 25.6.0 specimen from an undisclosed weirpool on the Thames.

He said: “After finding the water very coloured, I was sure it was going to be hard and that deadbaits would be the only method of catching fish.

“I only had one run, which turned out to be this cracking pike which actually equals my personal best river pike caught nearly ten years ago.”

Successful tactics were float-legered herring on size eight hooks to 30lb wire trace and 30lb braid.

Deeley is a member of the Oxfordshire branch of the Pike Anglers Club of Great Britain, who are meeting on Thursday at the Red Lion, Eynsham (7.30pm), when Nick Peat will be giving a talk on river piking.