British Record Fish List

By Alex Clayton · Updated 24 October 2026

The heaviest carp you have seen in the angling press is probably not the British record. Only fish ratified by the British Record (Rod Caught) Fish Committee (BRFC) count, and the committee has been part of the Angling Trust since 2009, covering England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.

This british record fish list takes the coarse records straight from the BRFC list dated 23 June 2025. Some British rod-caught fish records have been reported as beaten since then, barbel most notably, so each section flags where that applies and points you to the live list on the Angling Trust website.

The full coarse table comes first. After it come species notes, the game and sea lists, why big fish get turned down, and what to do if you think one is lying in your landing net.

Current British Coarse Fish Records (BRFC List, June 2025)

This table holds every species on the BRFC coarse fish list as at 23 June 2025. Weights are in pounds, ounces and drams, with the kilo figure from the BRFC list in brackets.

Species	Weight	Captor	Venue	Year
Barbel †	22 lb 0 oz (9.979 kg)	James Crosby	King’s Weir, River Lea	2024
Bitterling	12 dr (0.021 kg)	Dennis Flack	Barway Lake, Cambridgeshire	1998
Bleak	4 oz 9 dr (0.129 kg)	Dennis Flack	River Lark, Cambridgeshire	1998
Bream (common bronze)	22 lb 11 oz (10.291 kg)	Scot Crook	Ferry Lagoon, Cambridgeshire	2012
Bream (silver)	3 lb 4 oz (1.474 kg)	Gareth Evans	Mill Farm Fishery, Pulborough, Sussex	2012
Bullhead	1 oz (0.028 kg)	R Johnson	Green River, near Guildford, Surrey	1983
Carp (mirror)	68 lb 1 oz (30.875 kg)	Dean Fletcher	Cranwells Lake, Wasing Estate, Berkshire	2016
Carp (crucian)	4 lb 14 oz (2.212 kg)	Adam Brookbanks	Barham Syndicate Lake, Ipswich	2024
Catfish (wels)	150 lb 3 oz (68.12 kg)	Shaun Ing	Chigborough Fisheries, Essex	2024
Chub	9 lb 5 oz (4.224 kg)	Andy Maker	Southern stillwater	2007
Dace	1 lb 5 oz 2 dr (0.599 kg)	Simon Ashton	River Wear, Sunderland	2002
Eel	11 lb 3 oz (5.074 kg)	Steven Ricketts	Southern stillwater	2024
Gudgeon	5 oz (0.141 kg)	D H Hull	River Nadder, Wiltshire	1990
Ide (orfe)	8 lb 5 oz (3.770 kg)	Shared (3 anglers)	See ide notes below	2000, 2018, 2021
Minnow	13.5 dr (0.024 kg)	J Sawyer	Whitworth Lake, Spennymoor	1998
Perch	6 lb 3 oz (2.806 kg)	Shared: Neil Stephen; Ken Brown	Stream Valley Lakes, Crowborough; Wilstone Fishery, Tring	2011
Pike	47 lb 5 oz (21.46 kg)	Lloyd Watson	Chew Valley Lake, Somerset	2024
Roach	4 lb 3 oz (1.9 kg)	Shared: Keith Berry; Dai Gribble	Northern Ireland; Linear Fisheries, Oxfordshire	2006, 2024
Rudd	4 lb 10 oz (2.097 kg)	Simon Parry	See BRFC list	2001
Ruffe	5 oz 4 dr (0.148 kg)	R J Jenkins	See BRFC list	1980
Stickleback (three-spined)	8 g	Mat Faulkner	See BRFC list	2019
Stone loach	13 g	Geoffrey Green	See BRFC list	2005
Tench	15 lb 3 oz 6 dr (6.899 kg)	D Ward	See BRFC list	2001
Zander	21 lb 5 oz (9.667 kg)	James Benfield	See BRFC list	2007

† Reported as beaten since this list was published. See the barbel notes below.

“Shared” means the committee ratified two or more fish of exactly the same weight. That is why roach, perch and ide each show more than one captor.

The BRFC ratifies claims through the year, so treat this table as a dated snapshot. If you are quoting a figure in print, on a forum or in a pub argument, check the live list on the Angling Trust site first.

The June 2025 list also has no separate row for common carp and none for grass carp, which was frozen in 2007 (see the catfish notes below).

Carp, Pike, Perch, Tench and Bream: The Records With Their Own Guides

The carp record is the most argued-over line in British angling, and the ratified figure is lower than several you will see quoted online. Each of these five has its own guide.

Carp

The ratified mirror carp record is 68 lb 1 oz, caught by Dean Fletcher from Cranwells Lake on the Wasing Estate in 2016. Heavier carp have been photographed but never ratified, as explained further down. Newer carp ratifications have been reported since the June 2025 list, so confirm any heavier figure with the Angling Trust before quoting it. Read the full British record carp history and the biggest carp ever caught, ratified or not.

Pike

Lloyd Watson’s 47 lb 5 oz pike from Chew Valley Lake in Somerset set the mark in 2024. The British record pike guide covers the fish.

Perch

The perch record of 6 lb 3 oz is shared by two fish, both caught in 2011. The British record perch guide tells both stories.

Tench

D Ward’s 15 lb 3 oz 6 dr tench has held the record since 2001. See the British record tench guide.

Bream

Scot Crook’s 22 lb 11 oz common bream came from Ferry Lagoon in Cambridgeshire in 2012. The British record bream guide has the background.

Fishing for pike, perch and bream on Windermere, I find these figures a useful reminder of how rare a genuine record fish is.

Roach, Chub, Rudd, Dace and Ide Records

The British record roach is held jointly by two anglers whose fish were caught 18 years apart. The silver-fish records are small numbers with long stories behind them.

Roach

The british record roach stands at 4 lb 3 oz (1.9 kg), shared by Keith Berry’s 2006 fish from Northern Ireland and Dai Gribble’s 2024 fish from Linear Fisheries in Oxfordshire.

Chub

The british record chub is 9 lb 5 oz, caught by Andy Maker in 2007 and listed only as a southern stillwater. Most anglers think of chub as a river fish, yet the record came from a lake.

Rudd

Simon Parry holds the rudd record at 4 lb 10 oz, set in 2001.

Dace

Simon Ashton’s 1 lb 5 oz 2 dr dace came from the River Wear at Sunderland in 2002. At this size the drams matter: a few of them separate a record from a very good fish.

Ide

The ide (orfe) record of 8 lb 5 oz is shared by three anglers: Michael Wilkinson at Lymm Vale in 2000, Lawrence King at Newdigate Farms in 2018 and Colin Hebb on the River Hull in 2021.

For a quick comparison, the chub mark has stood for nearly two decades, while the roach record gained a second holder as recently as 2024.

Barbel, Zander, Eel and Catfish Records

Two of these four records carry small print that changes which figure you should quote: barbel has a reported new record, and catfish spent 23 years frozen.

Barbel

The June 2025 list shows the british record barbel at 22 lb 0 oz, caught by James Crosby at King’s Weir on the River Lea in 2024. The Angling Trust has since been reported to have ratified a 22 lb 10 oz barbel caught by Nathan Buckingham on the River Lea in February 2026. We could not confirm this against the live list, so check the Angling Trust records page before quoting it.

Zander

The british record zander is 21 lb 5 oz, caught by James Benfield in 2007. If you see a heavier zander on an unofficial list, check whether the BRFC ratified it before treating it as the record.

Eel

The british record eel is 11 lb 3 oz, caught by Steven Ricketts from a southern stillwater in 2024. The European eel is in serious decline, so return any eel you catch quickly, and check the Environment Agency rules on eels for your area before you target them.

Catfish

The british record catfish has the strangest history of the four. The BRFC froze the wels catfish record in 2000, then reinstated it in November 2023 for fish over 130 lb. The June 2025 list shows 150 lb 3 oz (68.12 kg), caught by Shaun Ing at Chigborough Fisheries in Essex in 2024, the heaviest fish on the coarse list. Grass carp went the other way: that record was frozen in 2007 at 44 lb 8 oz and is not on the current list.

For all four species, quote the BRFC list and nothing else. Browse the species guides for how to fish for them.

Game Fish Records: Grayling, Brown Trout and Salmon

Trout records confuse people because there are two of them. The game list separates wild fish from stocked ones, and the newest copy we could obtain is the BRFC game list as at 25 June 2019. These figures may have been superseded.

Species	Weight	Captor	Year
Grayling	4 lb 8 oz	Simon Ellis	2019
Brown trout (natural)	31 lb 12 oz	Brian Rutland	2002
Brown trout (cultivated)	28 lb 1 oz	See BRFC list (Dever Springs)	1995
Atlantic salmon	64 lb	Miss G W Ballantine	1922

Grayling

The british record grayling is 4 lb 8 oz, caught by Simon Ellis from a Wessex river in 2019.

Brown Trout

The record brown trout in the UK depends on which list you mean. The natural record is 31 lb 12 oz, caught by Brian Rutland on Loch Awe in Argyll in 2002. The cultivated record is 28 lb 1 oz from Dever Springs in 1995. Natural fish grew up in the wild, cultivated fish were reared and stocked, and the game lists closed to new cultivated claims in April 2015.

Salmon

Miss G W Ballantine’s 64 lb salmon from the River Tay in 1922 is the oldest record on this page.

Check the current game list on the Angling Trust website before you quote any of these.

British Sea Fish Records: Boat and Shore Lists

The BRFC keeps separate boat and shore records for each sea species, so a fish caught from the beach or rocks is measured only against other shore-caught fish of its kind. The most recent copy we obtained is the BRFC sea list updated December 2021, which is too old to quote with confidence.

For that reason this page does not reproduce sea weights. Go to the Angling Trust website for the current list. Many sea species also have a minimum qualifying weight before the committee will consider a claim, so check the figure for your species on that list.

Why the Biggest Fish You Read About Is Not Always the Record

A 75 lb 2 oz mirror carp was photographed in 2020, yet the British record is still 68 lb 1 oz. The gap comes down to four things: unratified claims, the cultivated-fish rules, frozen species and, historically, the dead-fish rule.

Unratified claims

Secondary lists, including Wikipedia, mix BRFC records with photo-supported fish that were never claimed or never ratified. The 2020 mirror is one of them. A photograph shows a big fish; it does not show tested scales, independent witnesses or a fish’s history.

Cultivated fish and growth checks

In 2016 the BRFC rejected the carp known as “Big Rig” and a 34 lb 12 oz rainbow trout as cultivated fish. Since December 2017, freshwater claims get extra scrutiny of the fish’s stocking weight, history, diet and whether its growth is sustainable. A 73 lb 8 oz carp was turned down in 2021 under that advice. The committee wants to know the fish reached its weight naturally, not that it was grown on for size.

Frozen species

The committee can close a species to claims. Wels catfish were frozen from 2000 until November 2023, and grass carp have been frozen since 2007, so no grass carp, however big, can currently become a record.

The dead-fish rule

In 1980 Chris Yates’s 51 lb 8 oz carp was not accepted because he returned it alive. The requirement for a dead fish was later dropped.

A ratified record has passed every test; a claimed fish has only passed the camera. The carp guides linked above cover the heavier fish that never made the list.

How a Fish Becomes a British Record, and What to Do If You Think You Have One

The fish of a lifetime can be rejected for something as simple as a missing witness. A 21 lb 5 oz bass claim was turned down because the angler had been fishing alone.

The BRFC wants fair angling by a single angler, accurate scales that can be tested afterwards, credible witnesses who are not family or friends, and photographs with an object in shot for scale. Fair angling includes fishing legally, so hold a valid rod licence where one is needed.

If a possible record is in your net, work through this list:

Keep the fish safe and wet in a sling or retention sack while you sort everything else out.
Weigh it on accurate scales, and keep those scales so they can be tested.
Find two credible, independent witnesses who are not family or friends.
Photograph the fish with something for scale, and photograph the scales reading.
Contact the BRFC through the Angling Trust promptly and ask how to submit a claim.
Check the species is on the list and, for sea fish, its qualifying weight.

The fish does not need to be killed. Return it as soon as the weighing, witnessing and photographs are done.

Claim procedures can change, so confirm the current process with the Angling Trust, and make the call while the details are fresh.

Frequently asked questions

Who decides British fishing records?

The British Record (Rod Caught) Fish Committee decides British fishing records. It has been part of the Angling Trust since 2009 and ratifies rod-caught records for England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands. Only fish on its coarse, game and sea lists are official British records.

What is the biggest freshwater fish ever caught in Britain?

On the BRFC coarse list, the heaviest fish is the wels catfish: 150 lb 3 oz (68.12 kg), caught by Shaun Ing at Chigborough Fisheries in Essex in 2024. The catfish record had been frozen from 2000 until the committee reinstated it in November 2023 for fish over 130 lb.

Does a record fish have to be killed?

No. The BRFC once required a dead fish, which is why Chris Yates's 51 lb 8 oz carp was not accepted in 1980, but that rule was later dropped. Weigh, witness and photograph the fish, then return it quickly.

How often is the British record fish list updated?

There is no fixed timetable. The BRFC reissues its lists as new records are ratified, and the copies we found carry different dates: June 2025 for coarse, December 2021 for sea and June 2019 for game. Check the Angling Trust website for the latest version before quoting any record.