This enormous zander would smash the world record for the species if claimed.

The stunning 35lb 15oz predator was landed on the River Danube by Romanian angler Andrei Oprea close to Craiova, Romania’s sixth largest city.

If verified – and you have to say it looks to be a huge fish – it would obliterate the current IGFA world record – a zander of 25lb 2oz caught at Trosa in Sweden in  June 1986 by Harry Tennison. However, it seems unlikely that a claim will be made.
The weight is actually higher than the maximum of 33lb it was thought the species can achieve. Andrei, who certainly deserves his cigar, caught it while vertical jigging from a boat using an 5/0, 8in Manns Fire Shad with 15lb braid and an 8ft 6in St Croix lure rod. 

The British record zander is a fish of 21lb 5oz caught by accident on the River Severn near Tewkesbury in 2007. The captor James Benfield was fishing for barbel with pellet at the time.