Many a top perch angler will be mighty jealous of this catch – especially as the 5lb 2oz beauty was banked by an angler fishing for carp.

Jack Burns targeted a small lake close to his Nottingham base with a hair-rigged prawn, a tactic he has used before to catch carp.

However, the 23-year-old was in for a massive and welcome shock when it was snaffled by the biggest perch reported from anywhere in the UK this season, which also smashes his own personal best by over 2lb.

Said Jack:  “I was fishing with float rod and a carp rod but I hadn’t had a single bleep on the heavier set-up so I decided to change tactics. I put a prawn, hair-rigged on a size 10 hook, and cast it to an overhanging tree on the other side of the pond. I threw in a few chopped prawns to get the fish feeding and after an hour the alarm screamed off. I thought it was a carp!

“The specimen put up a , dogged fight and I couldn’t believe my eyes when a perch popped up on the surface – I’d never seen a fish like it! I quickly got it in the net, carefully prepared the scales and sling, and weighed and returned her,” he explained.

There looks to be no doubt of the weight from the picture and it’s more proof that massive perch can be caught from anywhere.