I set my gear down by a very clear stretch of the River Avon at the start of the winter season, with a five-hour match ahead of me. The week leading up to the competition saw some hard frosts – plummeting the water temperature – setting us up for a pretty tough morning.

My initial tactics for the day involved using very little bait, casting all over the swim to find a match-winning bonus fish – switching between a tiny maggot and groundbait feeder with big baits like lob worm and luncheon meat on the hook. Two hours in and I'd not had a single bite... It was now time to completely forget chub, bream, and barbel, and go super light for something a bit smaller. I made up a lighter feeder outfit with a 1oz tip, 3lb mainline, and 1lb 7oz hooklength to a size 20 river hook.

With a few old dendrobenas in a pot on my tray, along with some caster and pinkie that I could offer through the maggot feeder, my new goal was to try and find a rogue perch.

No sooner had I chucked in on the lighter outfit, the tip started to rattle. I should have sat on my hands as my strike met with no resistance. I regrouped and cast my bait in again in the exact same spot; it ratted again instantaneously… after a few tense moments I struck and felt a really good pull, but only for a split second before the fish was gone. I reeled in and found the last few inches of my hooklength missing. That was a decent fish.

I had to go for a walk to cool off as at that point I only needed around 10oz to put me in the top 3 in the match. I visited my mate a few pegs down and informed him that I’d lost a fish of at least two-pounds, telling my tale of the missed bite and broken hooklength. After a quick coffee and a chat, I headed back to try again.

An hour and a half passed with no further bites in any other spots. I decided to revisit my trusted two-biter to see if the lost fish had returned. Déjà vu ensued as the tip went round immediately! I struck and FINALLY had my first fish of the day on – albeit a lot smaller than the one I hooked earlier!

A welcome 3oz perch was in my landing net. After unhooking the fish, I noticed that there was something extra still hanging from its jaws – a rather familiar-looking size 20 and a few inches of 1lb 7oz line...

Good job nobody ever found out that I was in fact, embarrassingly once bust up by a three-ounce perch! Oh… wait?!