The British Record Perch

By Alex Clayton · Updated 23 October 2026

The British record perch is 6lb 3oz (2.806kg), and it belongs to two anglers at once. Neil Stephen and Ken Brown each landed a perch of exactly that weight, and the British Record (Rod Caught) Fish Committee lists both fish as the UK perch record.

That could change soon. A 6lb 6oz perch from Grafham Water was reported in September 2026, but it stays a claim, not a record, until the committee rules on it.

This page sets out the official record and the pending claim, then the world record perch, the big fish that never counted, and what to do if you land a contender yourself.

The Official British Record Perch: 6lb 3oz, Shared by Two Anglers

How can two fish from two counties hold one record? When a claim matches the existing record to the ounce, the British Record (Rod Caught) Fish Committee (BRFC) lists the weight as a shared record. The BRFC is the official body for UK rod-caught records and has sat within the Angling Trust since 2009.

The BRFC’s 30 January 2026 coarse fish listing still shows the perch record at 6lb 3oz.

Captor	Venue	Weight	Year listed by BRFC
Neil Stephen	Stream Valley Lakes, Crowborough, East Sussex	6lb 3oz (2.806kg)	2011
Ken Brown	Wilstone Reservoir, Tring, Hertfordshire	6lb 3oz (2.806kg)	2011

Neil Stephen’s fish came out on 12 March 2011, according to Wikipedia’s UK angling records page, and it won that year’s Drennan Cup. The BRFC itself gives only the year.

Ken Brown’s perch is listed by the BRFC as 2011. Other sources give different dates for it, so go by the BRFC list.

Stream Valley Lakes had form before 2011. Wikipedia’s history table shows Les Brown’s 5lb 15oz from the same water, caught in February 2006, as an earlier record-class fish. For how perch compare with every other species, see our page on every current British coarse fish record.

Both record fish sit above the “up to about 6lb” that the Canal & River Trust gives as the species’ top size. Our perch species guide covers how big perch usually grow and how long they live.

Has the Record Been Broken? The 6lb 6oz Grafham Water Claim

A 6lb 6oz perch is 3oz over the record. So why is 6lb 3oz still the official figure?

A reported fish only becomes a record once the BRFC ratifies it. On 24 September 2026, Angling Times reported that Joe Atkinson had caught a 6lb 6oz (2.89kg) perch from Grafham Water, Cambridgeshire, the previous week. It took a two-inch lure on a drop-shot rig, and he plans to submit a claim to the committee.

As of October 2026, no BRFC ratification had been published. The UK record perch stays at 6lb 3oz until the committee rules, so check the Angling Trust’s BRFC listings for the outcome.

Atkinson alternated between NED rigs and drop-shots, worked with slow twitches, and found that very small lures still caught with 4-inch fry about. Our perch guide covers lure sizes and drop-shot set-ups.

Claims can fail on procedure. The same Angling Times report recalls a 22lb Grafham zander from 2010 that was rejected because it was weighed while the angler was still afloat.

Until the BRFC decides, treat the Grafham fish as a pending claim and 6lb 3oz as the record.

The World Record Perch

The pending Grafham fish matches the world record for European perch in pounds and ounces.

The world record perch is 2.9kg (6lb 6oz), caught by Kalle Vaaranen at Kökar in the Åland Islands, Finland, on 4 September 2010. That is the figure listed by Guinness World Records, citing the IGFA all-tackle record.

A British claim goes to the BRFC. A world claim goes to the International Game Fish Association (IGFA), which keeps its own records under its own rules.

The Finnish fish is the same species you catch here: the European perch (Perca fluviatilis) of UK rivers, canals and stillwaters, not the North American yellow perch.

So if you want the biggest perch ever caught, the 2.9kg Finnish fish is the answer on record. Heavier stories exist, but they are claims, and the next section explains why they don’t count.

The same split between a British list and a world list runs through other species too, as the British record carp and the biggest carp ever caught show.

Big Perch That Never Became Records

An 8lb perch heads one list of big British perch. So why is the record only 6lb 3oz?

A story is not a record. The BRFC was formed in 1968 and, according to Wikipedia’s BRFC entry, dropped earlier records that lacked photographs, witnesses and tested scales.

Other big perch were never claimed, or came up short on the scales. These are the best-known examples.

Fish	Weight	Why it isn’t the record
Hampshire Avon perch	8lb	Heads the Angling Trust’s Top 50 perch list (July 2020), a list of reported fish, not ratified records
Matt Atkins’ perch	6lb 4oz	Heavier than the record, but returned without a BRFC claim; he chose not to submit it, to protect the water
Darren Leeman’s perch, Midlands gravel pit	6lb 1oz	Reported in March 2025, 2oz short of the record

The Atkins fish shows why the list stays short. He beat the record by an ounce and still kept it off the books, because for some anglers a quiet water matters more than a name on the list.

A perch only counts once it is weighed, witnessed and claimed.

How to Claim a British Record Perch

A record claim is won or lost on the bank, in the minutes after landing and before you post a single photo. If you have a possible British record perch in the net, work through these steps, based on Angling Times’ advice on record fish:

Keep the fish healthy. Rest it in the landing net in a sheltered margin while you prepare.
Contact the BRFC without delay. The committee sits within the Angling Trust.
Find independent witnesses. They watch the weighing and sign the claim forms. You need at least one, and two are recommended.
Weigh on the bank. Use accurate scales that can carry a Weights and Measures certificate, and zero them with the sling before the fish goes in. The Grafham zander failed because it was weighed afloat.
Take clear colour photographs. Include a tape or another object for size reference.
Return the fish alive. Keep handling and time out of the water as short as you can.

Requirements can change, so check current BRFC guidance on the Angling Trust website.

On Windermere, I leave a big perch resting in the net in the water while I sort out the scales and camera.

If you think you have a record, weigh it on the bank, in front of witnesses, before anything else.

Where the Next Record Perch Could Come From

Six-pound perch are rare, but one reservoir keeps getting close.

Grafham Water is the favourite. Angling Times’ Paul Garner tips the 1,500-acre reservoir for its huge numbers of young coarse fish, and it produced many upper-five-pound perch in winter 2025-26, among them Rikki Cooper’s 5lb 11oz in November 2025.

Cooper’s view is that a perch carrying spawn between January and March could make the weight. Angling Times reported that Grafham’s predator fishing closed on 31 January that season and reopened to lure anglers on 1 September 2026, so check Anglian Water for current rules, seasons and tickets before you travel.

He fished lures no bigger than 5cm on a size 5 drop-shot hook, dragged along the bottom on a drift (more tactics on our predator fishing hub).

Grafham is a tip, not a certainty: neither current record fish came from it.

Frequently asked questions

What is the UK record perch?

The UK record perch is 6lb 3oz (2.806kg). It is a shared record: Neil Stephen caught one at Stream Valley Lakes, East Sussex, and Ken Brown caught the other at Wilstone Reservoir, Hertfordshire. The BRFC lists both fish as 2011.

Has the British perch record been broken?

Not officially. A 6lb 6oz perch from Grafham Water was reported on 24 September 2026 and a BRFC claim is planned, but no ratification had been published as of October 2026. See the Grafham Water section above for the full story.

What is the biggest perch ever caught?

The biggest perch on record is a 2.9kg (6lb 6oz) European perch caught by Kalle Vaaranen in the Åland Islands, Finland, in 2010. Guinness World Records lists it, citing the IGFA all-tackle record.

How big do perch get in the UK?

UK perch grow up to about 6lb and live 7 to 12 years, according to the Canal & River Trust, which says big perch are present in canals but few in number.