Small deadbaits used in big perch haul
This 3lb 11oz perch was the pick of a dozen fish landed by Norfolk-based rod Gareth Goldson during a hectic day session at a local gravel pit.
Gareth, from Cromer, put his faith in small roach deadbaits fished on low resistance leger rigs made from 6lb fluorocarbon and size 8 hook, and also banked one other perch over 3lb as well as a further 10 over 2lb.
“It was a real red letter day with several of the bites coming on the drop. I have found regular recasting to be a real edge when fishing this method as bites often come within minutes of a recast,” said Gareth, who used Hardy Ultralite Avon rods and 8lb mainline.
Seventh UK fifty for Terry Hearn
Following what has been one of his longest campaigns of his illustrious career, Terry Hearn has landed his seventh UK carp over the magical 50lb-barrier with this 51lb 4oz mirror from CEMEX Angling’s Chertsey Lake.
The south London-based legend has been chasing the elusive specimen for the last 18 months, and eventually made contact with his prized target fish on what was his 52nd bite on the tricky low-stock pit which contains fewer than 30 carp.
Terry, who is a consultant for both Dynamite Baits and ACE, had come close to achieving his goal on several occasions throughout his time on the Surrey venue.
“I'd come close a number of times, but one way or another it would always manage to get away with it,” Terry told Angling Times. “Either it would prove too clever for my rigs, or one of its mates would nip in at the last minute and get caught instead. It's possible that I lost it last April as well, after a line breakage.”
He finally slipped the net under the stunning fish, bringing his time on Chertsey to an end in the process, after it picked up his home-rolled 15mm Dynamite Baits Red Fish cork-ball pop-up which he presented on a hinged-stiff rig using a size 6 prototype ACE hook.
“The take came in the very early hours of the morning and I had a fair idea which fish it was as soon as I picked up the rod,” he explained. “I’d already caught all the others and this one felt completely different. It was very weighty and I could feel my line pinging off its fins so it was obviously a long fish. It kited left away from where I hooked it at around 60yds range, and once I got it in close it made the sanctuary of a snaggy corner where I could feel the mainline rubbing against some branches. With steady pressure it came free, and from there I managed to keep it coming until eventually it was rolling around beneath the tip. It was pitch black, but by this stage I was almost certain what it was. Even so, it wasn't until I got it in the net and flicked on my torch that I knew for sure.
“I can't tell you how much of a relief it was to finally catch it! I've enjoyed my time on the pit, but the noise from the nearby M3 is enough to drive you mad, and after catching everything else I'd pretty much had enough of fishing the place anyway. I certainly wasn't looking forward to going back for yet another go next spring. Instead, I can now have a nice fresh challenge somewhere else. For now though it's time to do a bit of perch fishing I think!”
16 year wait for a Richworth Linear thirty ends with 44lb 2oz mirror
After 16 years of trying, Ian ‘Chemo’ Russell has caught his first ever 30lb-plus carp from the Richworth Linear Fisheries complex with this 44lb 2oz mirror. And it was a critically-balanced maggot rig which finally brought an end to his long wait for one of the specimen carp which the Oxfordshire day-ticket site has become famous for.
The Avid Carp consultant and angling coach has been targeting Manor Farm for the past 12 months and over the last few weeks he had been catching steadily using single hookbaits at range. Despite the regular action he had struggled to get among the lake’s bigger residents and, never one to rest on his laurels, he knew that a change in tactics was required.
After spotting several massive carp show at close range on a previous visit, Ian plumbed the area with his marker rod looking for carp-holding features. Eventually, he found a small, firm area at 70yds range that he was convinced was caused by feeding carp.
On his next session on the busy water he decided that a switch to maggots may be the best way to get one of the lake’s big girls feeding.
He baited the feature which he’d found with a gallon of wrigglers and then cast out a 10mm red Avid Carp High Lite hookbait tipped with around 15 maggots over the top. Before doing so, however, he trimmed-down the High Lite to critically-balance the setup and make sure that the hookbait was just hovering off the lakebed. “With this presentation I know that as soon as a carp starts feeding over my bed of bait and comes anywhere near the rig, the chances are the hookbait is going to fly into its mouth,” explained Ian.
The decision paid-off and in the early hours of the morning his right-hand rod burst into life. “The fight was absolutely incredible, lasting at least 30 minutes. I could tell from the way it was fighting that it had to be one of the lake’s A-Team. Every time I thought I had it under control it would start tearing more line off my spool. Eventually, after a few heart-stopping moments, a massive mirror emerged from the depths and I bundled it into the landing net. I couldn’t believe it when I realised that it was the much sought-after Spike.”
Incredibly, despite catching countless carp to over 40lb from various other waters, he had never managed to bank a thirty from Richworth Linear which has been a regular haunt of his for almost two decades.
“I’ve fished on the lakes here for over 16 years and have caught hundreds of carp but for some reason the thirties have always eluded me,” Ian told Angling Times. “I’ve had anglers I’ve been doing tuitions with catch them but they just never came to my rods. Hopefully, now that I’ve had this one I won’t have to wait so long for my second,” he added.
The Brute landed at 53lb 6oz
After a three year break from fishing, Luke Gray returned to the sport in style with this 53lb 6oz mirror known as The Brute from a Berkshire stillwater.
The sought-after specimen, which smashed the 26-year-old New Malden-based carpenter’s pb by 8lb, was caught on only his seventh night on the tricky 14-acre venue.
Targeting one corner of the lake where he’d regularly seen a few fish moving around, he baited an overhanging snaggy tree with a light scattering of Tails Up OCM boilies and cast an 18mm hookbait over the top with a small PVA bag.
Arriving just before dark, he got his rods in position and four hours later his alarm burst into life.
“The fish tore off straight into a weed bed and although I kept the pressure on, I couldn’t get it to budge,” explained Luke. “I waded out to change the direction from which I was pulling and I eventually got it moving again. At this point I unfortunately discovered my waders had sprung a leak and it took me another 40 uncomfortable minutes to get the fish near the net. I scooped up the huge ball of weed thinking that I’d banked a decent thirty. As I peeled off the weed the carp just got bigger and bigger until I was eventually looking down at The Brute.”
Luke’s winning presentation consisted of a 6ins Atomic Tackle 25lb Jel-E-Wyre hooklink with a size 6 Gunsmoke Grabba hook and a 4oz flat pear inline drop-off lead.
“I became self-employed a few years ago so fishing unfortunately had to be put on the back burner. I recently decided to dust the rods off and have a go on the venue, but I certainly didn’t expect to end up posing with The Brute for the cameras so soon,” he added.
First bite results in target fish
John Kneebone may have to rethink his plans for the winter after he caught his target fish on his first session on Boscathnoe Reservoir in the form of this 37lb 14oz common.
The Cornwall-based Fox consultant chose a swim which gave him access to a set of dying lilies as well as the open water and he put his faith in snowman hookbaits consisting of Mainline Baits bottom baits and a 10mm Hi-Vis Pineapple pop-up.
“This was my first bite from this water where I planned to spend some time during the colder months. I think I’ll be turning my attentions to a low-stock 40-acre water that holds some very old fish now,” said John, whose winning setup included a Fox 20lb Gravel Brown Coretex hooklink and a size 6 Fox Arma Point SSSP hook.
World's best carp landed
The world’s biggest carp has been landed by Mark Ryder in the form of this 92lb mirror known as the Scar Fish from Les Graviers in France.
The Northamptonshire-based rod adopted a heavy baiting approach and introduced around 40kg of Baitcraft boilies over a large area at 120yds at the back of a gravel bar.
All four of his rods were positioned along the feature and in the early hours of the morning he landed his first fish of the trip with a 57lb 4oz mirror. Two forties then graced his net before he hooked into a fourth fish the next afternoon.
He said: “As soon as I picked up the rod I knew it was something special. After 40 minutes I eventually landed the colossal carp, and it was the one I’d always dreamt of catching. I was blown away by the size of it. The venue owner, Luke Moffatt, came to help with the weighing and on the scales it went 92lb. It has to be a fish of a lifetime.”
Mark used double 18mm Baitcraft T1 hookbaits on blow-back rigs tied with size 6 Nash Fang Twister hooks and 12ins Nash Missing Link hooklinks.
Monster rainbow landed!
There were some absolutely cracking fish caught last week at Packington Trout Fishery, near Coventry, with the biggest being this incredible 13lb rainbow trout caught by Ade Taylor, from Atherstone in Warwickshire.
He was fishing the bank of Cocks Close Lake when the fish fell to a Cat’s Whisker lure fished on an intermediate line.
Shore anglers enjoying good flatfish sport
Shore anglers in southern Ireland have been enjoying excellent sport from various species of flatfish in recent weeks, with peeler crab hookbaits doing most of the damage.
Despite the gale force winds colouring up the water, multiple bags of flounder to over 2lb have been taken on three hook (2 up and 1 down) flapper rigs from the South Wexford coast.
One of the best fish was this 2lb-plus specimen caught by Brian Cooke, who works for the Irish Federation of Sea Anglers.
Solid PVA bag tactics fool 40lb 9oz common
Kev Hewitt enjoyed a memorable session on Christchurch on the Linch Hill complex in Oxfordshire landing this stunning 40lb 9oz common and three other thirties to 39lb 2oz.
All of the 27-year-old Bristol-based rod’s fish were taken on CC Moore Acid Pear Hellraiser pop-ups fished inside a solid bag filled with pellets boosted with Bloodworm Liquid over a bed of maggots.
“Each fish came at around 4am in the morning like clockwork, and the biggest of them, known as the Toejam, came on the final morning of the session,” Kev told Angling Times.
His hookbaits were mounted on 4ins, 15lb Drennan Super Specialist Sink Braid hooklinks and size 8 ESP Curve-Shanx hooks.
Rare fifty caught by Neil Edge
This impressive 51lb 4oz mirror from CEMEX Angling’s Rockford Lake in Hampshire has been caught for only the fifth time in 12 years by Neil Edge.
The Sonubaits consultant decided to set up in a swim that had been neglected by other anglers for the last couple of weeks and which allowed him to fish towards a central band of weed where the lake’s carp had been held up in for the majority of the year.
All of his rods were cast towards the corner of a large weed bed at 70yds range which he baited with a mixture Sonubaits prototype boilies, particles and Tiger Fish pellets. Over the top of this he offered a Refresha pop-up on a short chod rig.
“The fishing was relatively slow to begin with, apart from the relentless bream and tench that couldn’t resist my bait,” Neil said. “Because of the great weather conditions I knew the carp would be well up for a feed, so on the last night of my session I put out another 6kg of spod mix.”
This certainly did the trick, because at 5am in the morning his alarm burst into life as the line was ripped off his spool.
“It headed straight towards the weed bed and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Everything went solid and I thought the fish had shed the hook. I applied steady pressure and after 10 minutes a large ball of weed the size of a pool table starting moving towards me. As the weed bed got within a few yards of the bank, I caught a glimpse of a carp’s tail. I desperately clambered into the water and slid the net under the whole lot. When I peeled back the mesh, and removed the weed I was greeted by a large, dark mirror. I was shocked, and absolutely over the moon, when the fish tipped my scales to 51lb 4oz.”
Chod rig fools 34lb 10oz for Rich Wilby
Rich Wilby returned to a Suffolk club water which he hadn’t fished for over 14 years and landed this cracking 34lb 10oz mirror known as the Piglet.
The Norfolk-based fishery manager caught the fish during a quick six hour day session on the 12 acre venue using a Nash Monster Squid pop-up on a chod rig fished over 2kg of 15mm and 20mm freebies.
He said: “After not fishing the lake for so long it was a nice surprise to catch one of the top fish in the lake so quickly.”
49lb 12oz pb mirror for Paul Mepham
Paul Mepham has smashed his personal best with this 49lb 12oz mirror from a southern stillwater.
After an uneventful first night fishing single hookbaits, the 32-year-old, Surrey-based angling coach decided to bait his spots with 1kg of 18mm Richworth KG1 boilies and then rested his swim until later in the day.
He then had to wait until the early hours of the morning for the all-important bite and after a 15 minute scrap he slipped the net under his prize.
It is the second forty which Paul has caught from the venue and he mounted his hookbaits tipped with a piece of artificial corn on size 8 Gardner Mugga hooks and 5ins Atomic Tackle Jel-E-Wyre hooklinks.
Cockatil bait works wonders for Dave
A fishing trip out of Folkestone, Kent proved fruitful for Ashford boat angler Dave Wilson, 48, who is seen here holding a 19lb 2oz cod that he caught from a private veesel.
A big bait approach worked for Dave, who put his faith in a cocktail made from four lugworms and a large squid.
He said: “ I still can’t get over the fact that I caught a fish that big. It made my day when it was officially weighed two hours after capture.”
Wyreside Lakes venue record broken with 42lb 1oz mirror
The Wyreside Lakes venue record has been broken by Ben Poole with the capture of this 42lb 1oz mirror from Wyre Lake on the Lancashire day-ticket complex.
Targeting a silt patch next to an island at 90yds range, the Stockport-based 35-year-old hooked into the specimen known as Paw Print on the first afternoon of his 24 hour session using a 20mm Nash Monster Squid bottom bait and a 12mm pop-up on a snowman presentation over around 20 freebies.
He said: “It came in fairly easily at first before trying to get in a set of snags. I managed to keep it clear and when it rolled around 20yds out my mate recognised it as Paw Print.”
To get a good presentation over the silt, Ben used an 18ins Korda N-Trap hooklink and a size 8 Nash Fang Twister hook.
First forty of the year for Ted Bryan
Ted Bryan has caught his first forty of the year in the shape of this 40lb 10oz mirror from a Kent club water.
The fish was the best of four which the Sydenham-based specimen hunter had during his session, which also included three twenties to 28lb 12oz.
All of his carp were taken on 15mm Nash Amber Strawberry pop-ups which were hair-rigged on size 8 Nash Fang X hooks and Nash Bullet mono hooklinks over around 20 free offerings.
Brace of fifties for Nash's Jack Brown
Jack Brown has become one of an elite group of anglers who can lay claim to catching a brace of UK fifties after landing a 52lb 1oz common and a 50lb mirror from Kevin Nash’s Church Lake in Essex.
It was a case of hard work and patience paying off for the Leighton Buzzard-based angling apprentice who changed swims three times to keep on top of the fish.
The first day of his 72 hour session passed without event, and with the wind pushing into a bay on his right he decided a move was on the cards. Just as the light was fading on the second evening he saw a patch of fizzing close to an island and flicked a rig onto a clear patch just behind the feeding fish.
Shortly afterwards one of his alarms screamed into life and a mammoth 45 minute fight followed.
“The fish weeded me up solid and I had to go out in the boat to get above it and pull it free,” Jack told Angling Times. “I eventually bundled a huge pile of weed into the net, and I couldn’t actually see which fish it was. At this point I realised I’d left the oars on the bank and as there was no breeze I was stuck in the middle of the lake! I managed to shout one of the warehouse lads, Scott, who thankfully rowed out and helped me back to the bank. When we pulled back the weed I was greeted by the incredible sight of a huge common, which at 52lb 1oz beat my pb by just over 1lb.”
The next day he moved swims again to get a better line lay, and that night he completed his historic brace with a 50lb mirror.
“The fish put up another good fight but thankfully wasn’t quite as eventful as the first one. One of the other Nash lads who was with me said it looked like a decent fish while I was playing it, and I was literally speechless when the scales went round to 50lb. To have one fifty was amazing, but to have two in a session is something I could never have dreamed of.”
Both of his fish were taken on 15mm Nash White Monster Squid pop-ups over a scattering of whole and chopped Monster Squid red boilies with a few handfuls of hemp and maggots. “Using a light coloured hookbait over darker free offerings is a tactic I use a lot as it makes your hookbait stand out and the fish definitely home in on it quicker. I mounted my pop-ups on stiff-hinged rigs which are a great big fish presentation because they present the baits perfectly for the way the bigger carp feed.
Both of my fish were nailed squarely in the bottom lip and there’s no way they were coming off.”
Incredibly, at the age of 20 Jack now has three fifties to his name, and only a week earlier he landed a 40lb 8oz mirror from an Oxfordshire syndicate.
Target achieved
At the start of the year Mark Pitchers set himself the target of catching thirty UK 30lb-plus carp and he recently achieved this with a four fish haul from an Essex syndicate water which was topped by a 42lb 3oz mirror carp.
The 33-year-old Yorkshire-based fishery owner also landed fish of 37lb, 32lb 2oz and 26lb 4oz during the productive 48 hour session.
Heavy baiting tactics proved successful and he presented a snowman hookbait consisting of a Sticky Vor-tex bottom bait tipped with a 12mm Buchu Berry pop-up over 3kg of Vor-tex and Bloodworm freezer baits.
Mark fished his hookbaits on blow-back rigs tied with Fox 15lb Reflex hooklinks and size 6 Fox Kuro S4 hooks with a 3oz inline flat pear lead.
Harman on the big barbel....again!
Big fish all-rounder Dave Harman's rich run of form on the Dorset Stour has continued with the capture of this 14lb 7oz barbel.
A boilie hookbait presented on a coated braid hooklink did the business for the former Drennan Cup winner, who only last week hit the headlines after banking a fine 2lb 10oz roach from the same river.
In the same overnight session as his barbel, Dave also took another smaller example of the species weighing 7lb, as well as a 5lb 10oz chub.
Big cod heads list of bumper catches
Boat anglers are enjoying a bonanza due to the fact that the summer fish haven’t quit the coast because of the warm weather, and the winter species have moved in boosting everyone’s fishing prospects.
Mark Davey from Milton Keynes proves the point with this 23lb cod, caught from the Weymouth-based Duchess II on a squid mackerel cocktail fished on a Pennell rig.
The boat's skipper Jeff Clarke revealed that over the same weekend his crews also landed big numbers of black bream and pollack to 16lb.
37lb 4oz Catch 22 common for Lee Nobbs
Lee Nobbs has been in a rich vein of form on Catch 22’s syndicate water, landing no less than 20 carp including eight different thirties topped by this 37lb 4oz common in the last few weeks.
The Norfolk-based venue bailiff has been targeting a silty gulley and has also landed linears of 36lb and 35lb, and commons of 35lb 1oz and 34lb.
Lee baited the feature with 2kg of Premier Baits Matrix boilies per fish, and used matching hookbaits on blow-back rigs on a running lead system.
