Richworth Linear Oxlease Lake's record broken

An angler armed with little more than a bucket of groundbait and a few tubs of particles has broken the lake record at one of the UK’s most prolific day-ticket venues with this 42lb 2oz common carp.

While most of those around him on Oxlease Lake at the Richworth Linear complex in Oxfordshire were casting their rigs ‘to the horizon’ over big beds of spodded bait, Adrian James opted for a far simpler approach.

The Merthyr Tydfil-based rod used a single hair-rigged tiger nut on a size 8 hook, which he cast to a gravelly area just 40yds out over a bed of groundbait laced with pellets, hemp, maize and crushed tiger nuts.

It proved to be the right decision, after the only bite of his five-day session saw him set a new venue record and smash his personal best of 24lb 8oz in the process.

“When I got there all of the other guys were fishing at around 100yds and spodding out bucket loads of bait, so I thought that I’d keep it simple and reckoned my best chance of a bite was to fish at close range and keep the groundbait going in on a little-and-often basis,” said Adrian.

“I think it’s vital to do something a little different, especially when a venue gets as busy as Oxlease, but I must admit I didn’t expect anything like this - it’s taken a few days to sink in!”