This is an impartial (not implicitly biased to a single governing body, the BRFC) and comprehensive record list of 327 British record fish caught in freshwater, past and present, involving 64 species/sub-species of fish caught using the traditional angling method of rod and line. Records include the angler, species, weight, date, venue, also referenced with a recognizable publication. The list is intended to include all categories of fish caught by anglers, that enter freshwater including (coarse and game fish) and some migratory sea fish. The time since last record fish was caught is .
Current records supported by photographic evidence Image Species Weight(lb oz) Captor Date Water County Time recordheld References/Notes Barbel (Barbus barbus) 22 lb 10 oz Nathan Buckingham 14 February 2026 Fishers Green Complex, River Lea, Waltham Abbey Essex Bream (common or bronze) (Abramis brama) 22 lb 11 oz Scot Crook 7 April 2012 Ferry Lagoon, Fen Drayton Lakes Cambridgeshire Note 1 Bream (silver) (Blicca bjoerkna) 3 lb 4;oz Gareth Evans 21 May 2012 Mill Farm Fishery, Bury, near Pulborough West Sussex Carp, common (Cyprinus carpio {communia}) 68 lb 8 oz Michael Nixon 24 April 2026 Kingfisher Lake, Chesham Buckinghamshire * Note 8 Carp, leather (Cyprinus carpio {corium}) 54 lb 8 oz Steve Fudge 2006 Car Park Lake, Yateley Complex, Yateley Surrey 16 years * Note 8 Carp, mirror (Cyprinus carpio {speculo}) 75 lb 2 oz Wayne Mansford 12 October 2020 Meadows Lake, Holme Fen Fishery Cambridgeshire * Note 8 Chub (Squalius cephalus) 9 lb 5 oz Neill Stephen 16 March 2012 Fishers Green Complex, River Lea, Waltham Abbey Essex * Note 9 Crucian carp (Carassius carassius) 4 lb 15 oz Martin Chew 11 May 2026 RH Fisheries, Weston Park, Weston-under-Lizard Staffordshire * Note 8 Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) 57 lb 4 oz Kane Hammond 4 Aug 2025 St.Georges Lake, Shepperton Surrey * Note 8 Grayling (Thymallus thymallus) 4 lb 8 oz Simon Ellis 19 February 2019 River Frome, Ilsington near Puddletown Dorset Golden orfe (Leuciscus idus) 8 lb 5 oz Michael Wilkinson April 2000 Lymm Vale Cheshire Lawrence King 20 May 2018 Newdigate farms, Newdigate Surrey Ide (natural) (Leuciscus idus) 8 lb 5 oz Colin Hebb 5 February 2021 River Hull Yorkshire Mullet (thin-lipped grey) (Liza ramada) 7 lb 9 oz Shaun Sillett 20 August 2012 Oulton Broad, Lowestoft Suffolk Note 1 * Note 8 Perch (Perca fluviatilis) 6 lb 3 oz Neill Stephen 12 March 2011 Stream Valley Lakes, Crowborough East Sussex Ken Brown 18 Sept 2012 Wilstone Reservoir, Tring Reservoirs Hertfordshire Pike (Esox lucius) 47 lb 5 oz Lloyd Watson 13 February 2024 Chew Valley Lake, Chew Valley, Somerset Roach (Rutilus rutilus) 4 lb 3 oz Dai Gribble 24 May 2024 Brasenose 1, Linear Fisheries Oxfordshire Ken Fuller 15 May 2017 Homersfield Lake Norfolk Salmon, Atlantic (Salmo salar) 64 lb Miss Georgina W Ballantine 7 October 1922 River Tay, Glendelvine Perthshire, Scotland Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) 10 lb Jacob Cluskey 18 October 2025 Hampshire Avon Dorset * Note 8 Stickleback (3-spined) (Gasterosteus aculeatus) 8 grams (4.5 dr) Matt Faulkner July 2019 Lower Beauvale Ponds, Eastwood Nottinghamshire Tench (Tinca tinca) 15 lb 3 oz 6 dr Darren Ward June 2001 Sheepwalk big pit, Shepperton Middlesex Note 1 Trout, brown (Salmo trutta) 31 lb 12 oz Brian Rutland 15 March 2002 Loch Awe, Ardbrecknish Argyll, Scotland Trout, rainbow (Onchorhynchus mykiss) 34 lb 12 oz Michael Mitchell 2 October 2016 Loch Earn Perthshire, Scotland * Note 8 Wels catfish (Silurus glanis) 150 lb Shaun Ing 30 September 2024 Chigborough Fisheries, Maldon Essex Zander (Sander lucioperca) 22 lb Mick Dolan 12 March 2010 Grafham Water, Huntingdon Cambridgeshire * Note 8
Current records not supported by any photographic evidence Image Species Weight(lb oz) Captor Date Water County Time recordheld References/Notes Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) 9 lb 8 oz W Fairbairn 27 May 1995 Loch Arkaig, Inverness Scottish Highlands, Scotland * Note 10 Bleak (Alburnus alburnus) 4 oz 9 dr Dennis Flack 1998 River Lark Border of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 22 years * Note 10 Bullhead (millers thumb) (Cottus gobio) 1 oz R Johnson 16 January 1983 Green river, Bramley, Shamley Green(near Guildford) Surrey * Note 10 Dace (Leuciscus leuciscus) 1 lb 5 oz 2 dr Simon Ashton 11 August 2002 River Wear, Town centre stretch, Durham Co.Durham * Note 10 Gudgeon (Gobio gobio) 5 oz D H Hull 1990 River Nadder, Sutton Mandeville Wiltshire 32 years Note 1 * Note 10 Minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus) 13.5 dr (24 grams) James Sawyer 1998 Whitworth Lake, Spennymoor Co.Durham 24 years Note 1* Note 10 Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus) 4 lb 10 oz Simon Parry 7 October 2001 Clay Lake County Armagh, Northern Ireland * Note 10 Ruffe (pope) (Gymnocephalus cernua) 5 oz 4 dr R Jenkins 7 August 1980 West View Lake Cumbria * Note 10 Salmon, Pacific humpback (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) 3 lb 8 oz 12 dr Louis Hunter 2007 River Tweed, near Berwick-upon-Tweed Scottish Borders, Scotland 15 years * Note 10 Stone loach (Barbatula barbatula) 13 dr Geoffery Green 1 November 2005 Windmill Fishery, Bristol Bristol Note 1* Note 10 Trout, brook (Salvelinus fontinalis) 8 lb 3 oz E Holland 1998 Fontburn Reservoir Northumberland 24 years * Note 10 Trout, sea (Salmo trutta {migrantis}) 28 lb 5 oz 4 dr J Farrent 1992 Calshot Spit, River Test Hampshire 30 years * Note 10
Record endangered species Image Species Weight(lb oz) Captor Date Water County Time recordheld References/Notes Allis shad (Alosa alosa) Note 3. 2 lb Will Birch 1 June 2025 Devon River Devon * Note 8 Burbot (Lota lota) in UK only - see Note 3. 1 lb John Dean 14 Sept 1969 Old West River (Great Ouse), near Aldreth Cambridgeshire * Note 8 Eel (Anguilla anguilla) Note 3. 11 lb 3 oz Steve Ricketts 3 June 2024 Kent Lake Kent Gwyniad (Coregonus pennantii) Note 3. (UK only) 1 lb 4 oz J Williams 1965 Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid), Bala Gwynedd, Wales Note 1 Pollan (Coregonus autumnalis pollan) Note 3 No record found - - - - - Powan (Coregonus clupeoides) Note 3 3 lb Robert Fullerton 24 August 2006 Carron Valley Reservoir, Nr. Denny Stirlingshire, Scotland Note 1 * Note 8 Schelly (skelly) (Coregonus stigmaticus) Note 3 2 lb 1 oz 9 dr S M Barrie 24 Sept 1986 Haweswater Reservoir, Valley of Mardale Cumbria Note 1 Smelt (Osmerus eperlanus) Note 3 1 dr Peter Christian 9 January 1977 River Yare, Buckenham Ferry Norfolk * Note 8 Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) Note 3. 202 lb 13 oz Major C.R.E. Radclyffe 2 July 1911 River Frome, Bindon Mill Dorset * Note 8 European sturgeon (Acipenser sturio) Note 3. 388 lb Alec Allen 1932 River Towy, Nantgaredig Carmarthenshire, Wales Note 1 * Note 8 Vendace (Coregonus albula) Note 3. (UK only) 4 oz 9 dm John Nicol 2015 South Loch Earn Caravan Park, Loch Earn Perthshire, Scotland * Note 8
Record ornamental sub-species Image Sub-species Weight(lb oz) Captor Date Water Location Time recordheld References / Notes Blue orfe (Leuciscus idus coerulus) 6 lb 3 oz Trevor Cozens 4 April 2010 Angler's Paradise, Beaworthy Devon * Note 8 Blue tench (Tinca coerulus) 3 lb 8 oz Charlie Rorison-Jones 19 October 2025 Specimen Lake, Angler's Paradise, Beaworthy Devon * Note 8 Carp, F1 (Cyprinus carpio communia) × (Carassius carassius) 7 lb 14 oz Chris Telling 4 February 2016 Peg 19 Boundary pool, Manor Farm Leisure, Harvington, near Evesham Worcestershire * Note 8 Golden tench (Tinca aurea) 8 lb John Richardson 26 August 2019 Lake Geneva, Nar Valley Fisheries, Narborough Norfolk * Note 8 Goldfish (Carassius auratus) 7 lb 5 oz Stuart Thurston 10 August 2010 UEA Broad, University of East Anglia, Norwich Norfolk * Note 8 Ghost koi carp (Cyprinus carpio spiritus) 48lb 4oz Andrew wilkie 18th September 2026 Syndicate lake Nottinghamshire (exact lake needs to be detailed) Nottinghamshire Reference required (magazine or newspaper article) Ghost koi carp (Cyprinus carpio spiritus) 47 lb 14 oz Joel Dighton 1 August 2017 D lake, Nunnery lakes, Thetford Norfolk * Note 8 Mandarin catfish (Silurus glanis) 64 lb 1 oz Tony Corbet 5 Sept 2013 Crowsheath Fishery, Downham Essex * Note 8 Trout, blue (Oncorhynchus mykiss coerulus) 19 lb 12 oz Chris Stephens 1 July 2006 Pennine Trout Farm and Fishery, Littleborough, Rochdale Lancashire * Note 8 Trout, golden (Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita) 22 lb 8 oz David Hillary 6 April 2008 Quarry Lake, Raygill Fishing Lakes, Lothersdale North Yorkshire * Note 8 Trout, sparctic (brook/char) (Sparctic trout Salvelinus fontinalis × Salvelinus alpinus) 11 lb 15 oz Andy Ford 12 April 2021 Dever Springs fishery Barton Stacey Hampshire * Note 8 Trout, tiger (brown/brook) (Salmo trutta × Salvelinus fontinalis) 11 lb 8 oz Stevie Rankin 16 December 2011 Alderneuk Trout Fishery, Waterside Farm, Terregles Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland * Note 8
Record non-indigenous (invasive) species Image Species Weight(lb oz) Captor Date Water Location Time recordheld References / Notes Asp (Aspius aspius) 10 lb Sonny Fowler December 2014 Churchgate Fishery near Battlesbridge Essex * Note 8 Bitterling (Rhodeus amarus) 12 dr Dennis Flack 1998 Barway Lake near Ely Cambridgeshire 24 years * Note 10 Blue carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus) 36 lb Bandan Pizzy October 2019 Specimen lake, Hawkhurst Fishery, Hawkhurst Kent * Note 8 Black bullhead (catfish) (Ameiurus melas) 1 lb 3 oz 1 dr K Clements 2001 Lake Meadows, Billericay Essex 21 years * Note 7 + 10 + 11 Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) 14 lb Luke Pike 4 July 2022 Lake Meadows Park, Billericay Essex * Note 7 + 8 Pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) 14 oz 2 dr Bill Rushmer 8 July 2003 Tanyards Fishery, Furner's Green East Sussex * Note 10 Silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) 30 lb Chris Johnson 2011 Greaves End Fishery, Eastrington East Riding of Yorkshire 11 years * Note 8 Walleye (Sander vitreus) 11 lb 12 oz F Adams 1934 River Delph Welney Norfolk 88 years * Note 10
Historical records