Patience rewarded with 40lb 12oz common

Waiting for the perfect weather conditions paid off for Leon Bartropp and his patience was duly rewarded with this 40lb 12oz common from Wellington Country Park.

The 44-year-old Essex-based carper had been baiting an area of the lake which hadn’t received any angling pressure for a while and was even being called ‘no carp corner’ by other members because there hadn’t even been any fish spotted in the area for several weeks.

“I’d been trickling a mixture of different sized Mistral i40 boilies into the area and as soon as a northerly wind picked up, blowing straight in to the bay, I made sure I got the rods out over the prebaited area,” said the Fox and Mistral consultant. “I hadn’t seen any fish but I was confident they would be there and then out of blue I received a steady take in the middle of the afternoon. The fish put up a good scrap taking me in and out of several weedbeds but I eventually got the better of it and slipped the net under a chunky common.”

Leon beat his prize with a pop-up hookbait on a hinged-stiff rig tied with a size 5 Fox Arma Point SR hook and a 25lb Rigidity hooklink.