Swim change produces 40lb 4oz mirror
A change of swims paid dividends for Ted Bryan when he landed fish of 40lb 4oz and 38lb 10oz in a matter of minutes from a southern stillwater.
Fishing close to a large weedbed, the Syndenham-based all-rounder baited each rod with 50 Nash Bait iC1 boilies.
He then took both mirrors on 15mm glugged pop-up hookbaits mounted on size 8 Nash Fang X hooks and 20lb Missing Link hooklinks.
Prebaiting produces 39lb 11oz mirror
A week long prebaiting campaign paid off in style for Leon Stearn when he banked this 39lb 11oz mirror from the Fjords on the Cambridgeshire St Ives Lakes complex.
The local rod had been introducing Denham Bait Innovations The Element boilies to a marginal spot on the tricky low-stock venue.
He soon had the fish visiting the spot on a regular basis and managed to stalk the lake’s biggest known resident called the Round Brown.
For venue info visit: www.stiveslakes.com
Gut feeling leads to 41lb 10oz mirror
Time spent looking for the carp and careful swim selection paid off for Nigel Williams when he landed this 41lb 10oz mirror from RH Fisheries’ Acton Burnell Top Lake.
Arriving at the Shropshire venue for a quick overnight session, the Cheltenham-based rod grabbed his bucket and set off round the 17-acre water in search of his quarry.
“The lake had been producing a few good carp over the last couple of weeks, but after a couple of laps I hadn’t seen any fizzing, bubbles or showing fish,” Nigel told Angling Times.
“This was quite strange because the fish in the lake are usually very active so with nothing to go on I dropped into a swim that allowed me to cast tight to the dam wall. The wind was howling down this end and I had a feeling that there would be a few fish knocking around.”
Rather than using chod rigs like lots of anglers targeting the lake, he decided to fish with his favourite blow-back presentation tied with an Avid Captive Braid hooklink material. And to add some attraction around his 15mm Sonubaits Code Red hookbait he attached a large PVA bag of Sonubaits S Pellets using a PVA bag link. “This item of tackle ensures that the rig doesn’t tangle on the cast and stops the lead falling off when fishing big PVA bags at range,” he explained. “I flicked two rods tight to the overhanging trees that stretch along the length of the dam and flicked my third rod into open water. As darkness fell, the odd fish started to show in the middle area of the lake, but I decided to stick it out where I was until the morning. I don’t know why, but I had a gut feeling that something special was going to happen.”
After an uneventful night, Nigel was up at first light scanning the water for signs of carp and with fish still fizzing in the middle area of the lake he decided to move swims for the last few hours of his session.
“As I started to pack my bivvy away, my right-hand Delkim screamed into life and line began tearing from my reel. There was nothing I could do to stop the fish for the first few minutes. I just let it charge around in open water.”
Eventually, after an epic battle, a huge mirror emerged from the silty depths about 20 yards from the bank. Although Nige only got a glimpse of the carp’s tail, it was apparent that he was hooked into one of the venue’s larger residents. A couple of heart-stopping moments and a premature swipe with the landing net later, Nigel finally slid the fish over the spreader block.
Korda Team England World Carp Cup report
The Korda Team England have recently returned from the World Carp Cup in Romania where they finished eighteenth.
Korda's James Armstrong accompanied the team and you can read his report on the match and interview with team coach Ian Huntington below...
Youth, energy, experience, quality and enthusiasm; Just a few words that describe this exciting new England Team.
The selection process was a long, hard, affair and the only way to choose our future team fairly was to hold some trials. This gave several of the UK’s best carp-match anglers the chance to shine and gain a seat on the prestigious plane to Romania.
Korda: Why did you have trials?
Ian: Those that have been to the World Championships before obviously have experience and a head-start. It’s a great baptism for all these anglers because from whatever they’ve done before, there had never been a selection process like this before. We had three trials – the theme of the first being the endurance-side of things which as it turned out was extremely important, whereas on the next trial was on a technical basis, where the anglers were catching bigger fish in a more traditional carp fishing scenario. This had less relevance as it turned out as luck, as in most English Carp matches, played too big a part with most of the fish ending up in one area of the lake. The third trial reflected team-work and the guys working together, sharing information while they’re on the bank, which is something that is totally unheard of in English competition carp fishing. These guys normally fish against each other, so to have them fish together as a team, and share that information is normally against their nature, so we’ve broken all those moulds, to effectively create what we want as a team. This whole process is about selecting a team, which did mean that some very good individual pairs that fished did not become part of the team.
The management team were to keep a very close eye on each pair, and individual, throughout the trial period and narrowed it down to four pairs. Three that would begin the match in Romania and a substitute pair if required. One thing that was clear; this was a team event and each individual had to work well with others, as well as retain the qualities required to be considered in such a major event.
Korda: How the team was chosen?
Ian: The venue Lacul Corbu only received ratification from FIPSed in late May this year and a report issued in mid-June through the FIPSed Italian delegation who inspected the venue. This rubber stamped its use for the world championships. We knew from this report that the venue swims had only been built in March /April and the venue only stocked at the beginning of May with hundreds of tons of small fish, consequently the action would be non-stop as we have experienced previously in the World Championships in South Africa. Based on all the information from FIPSed the results from the RIGS series of tournaments held on the venue, together with all the trials information the team was chosen. The focus being on World Championships experience, team spirit and endurance the final team selected was as follows:
Jake and Dan Wildbore - Jake is a former British junior champion and with Dan his brother has been second in the BCAC at senior level. Dan and Jake were also the best performing English pair at last year’s world championships in Italy, beating GP Knell of South Africa, a two times individual and four times team World Champion off the next peg.
Billy Flowers and Jamie Londors - Three times world silver medalists in four previous attempts at both team and individual level make them a formidable duo whose work rate at these events is second to none and makes them a formidable pair.
Mark Bartlett and Kev Hewitt - Having never before competed in the World Championships, however they need little introduction. Bart and Kev smashed the 48 hour World and British enduro records in the first trial at Drayton. The rest of the world knew all about these guys before they arrived and they were certainly one the most feared pairs in the competition.
Jack Stamp and Kia Sanger - Also having never before competed in the World Championships, however they have been consistent winners in their BCAC qualifiers on big hit waters, also very solid performances throughout the England trials process winning two out of three sections, not to mention being UK Carp master’s winners.
All in all a formidable team I think you will agree.
Of course, one of the most important factors in succeeding in an event of such magnitude is preparation. Ian and Pete had placed a lot of thought in rig mechanics and bait. They even visited the venue months in advance to form a strategic plan.
Korda: How did you decide on the tactics for the 2012 World Champs?
Ian: Bait, it was clear from the visit that our main strategy should be formed by fishing Boilies over free offerings of the same. Fishmeal type Boilies and soluballs were evident in every swim and it is clearly what the fish are used to being fed on. The throwing stick will play a major part. Pasting baits and fishing in conjunction with two bait stringers. Maximum range fishing should be with pasted singles.
We even discussed this with some of the finest bait brains in the country upon our return. Unfortunately the key to the match and what we did not know was the lake had been corrupted onto one single type of bait. Since the fish were stocked in May 2012 and while at the fish farm prior to this they had been fed solely on this bait. Consequently countries that had been and practiced were aware of this and managed to get some local bait to enable them at least to take part in the event. The Bulgarians who are next door to Romania commissioned their own bait based on what had been fed to the fish. Portugal and Serbians had contacts in Romania who provided local bait. The fish were fed daily throughout the summer by boat on the Romanian bait on fixed lines parallel with the bank so the host countries were not taking any chances. Imagine feeding a lake in this country with only one bait for a year and then holding a match on it, the outcome would be just the same as Romania. Those with the introduced bait would do well and the rest would really struggle to get a bite.
From our point of view and bearing in mind you are kept behind lines when you visit it’s difficult to have foreseen this coming without actually practicing on the venue and within two hours of the match starting we were asking ourselves questions about the bait. We later found out from the South African team and the French team consultant Ronnie De- Groot that they had also brought different English bait from two other leading English manufactures, most of which stayed on the pallets and was not used at all in the case of South Africa. That’s 1.5 ton of bait or 10k of bait left on pallets.
The lads touched down in Romania and were instantly transported to the meet a great event that included a Hog roast and live traditional Romanian entertainment. From the viewpoint of an outsider it was completely overwhelming. The time and effort that had been invested into the organisation of the initial nights entertainment was spellbinding.
Korda: Did you imagine the event to be as big as it was?
Ian: Having fished in five previous World Championships with Pete we were still amazed our hosts had put on such an amazing event. The South African event had been amazing and the teams silver medal very satisfying, however the sheer scale of expense the Romanians had gone too with three different themed gala dinners, open top bus parades around the city not to mention the spectacular fireworks displays really set this event apart.
It was then completely eclipsed by the second nights opening party where all 21 countries plus press and invited guests were treated to a ball room banquet fit for Kings which when compared to all previous carp fishing tournaments we had attended really did stand head and shoulders above.
The following day did however bring with it the draw and the start of the match so slowly and unsurprising quite reluctantly the management of the participating countries began to call time and usher the competing anglers back to their hotel.
The draw, as expected, was a nervy, tense moment and without doubt the most important part in any match. This was short-lived however, when each of Team England received a pleasing draw. The talented Hewitt and Bartlett drawing a renowned productive end peg in Section A was the most notable.
It was clear that the England Team meant business and worked tirelessly throughout that first day and night to grasp this daunting venue. However, by morning they were well behind. The local knowledge fired Romania into a huge lead and by the morning of the second day they were already ahead on points with over 800kg. They where chased by Bulgaria, Portugal and the Serbians.
Unfortunately, this was the theme of the match. As England moved further and further behind, it was clear that something was wrong. They were fishing out of their skin, far more methodical and accurate than other pairings that flanked the English, yet they where unable to buy any consistency in their catch rate. Their efforts could not be questioned.
The Romanians had been canny. The newly stocked carp had been born and bred on a certain bait and indicated an almost inherent urge to feed on this certain boilie. Unfortunately, this was the instrumental component that lead to the demise of the English attack and ultimately to the success of the Romanian catch rate.
The carp were so preoccupied by this now “natural” food source that they would rarely feed on anything else. It dealt the killer blow to the England and we feel that this edge would certainly have given England the necessary tools to have competed for a medal.
By the end of this epic match which saw Romania and Bulgaria battling it for first place, and England finishing in a disappointing 18th, the home nation succeeded by a whisker.
Looking forward to 2013 the England team having now fully debriefed and are looking forward to Portugal. Korda have expressed their huge confidences in this young team and will continue to be a supporting element to the team.
It’s set to be yet another highly contestant event with all participating nations feeling confident of a good result.
Korda: Changes for 2013 – and the team you have built?
Ian: Hard lessons have been learnt and it has been a very difficult experience to pick the team and ourselves up after this event. Team sponsors have also invested money and support and many people have given up their time as volunteers in the trials to try and raise our chances of winning the team gold medal for the first time.
Firstly the corruption of the water as described above, while this is strictly not against the rules and the Romanians freely admitted to doing this there is the morale issue here and in the interests of fair play and fair contest this can’t be right. I have already spoken to Dick Clegg about this and he is going to take the issue up with FIPSed at this year’s November meeting in Italy. While we appreciate the Lac Corbul is unique and its fish stock brand new thus making this corruption of the water more possible, it will not ultimately deter other host nations following suit leading to a potential breakup of the competition.
Practicing, the team needs to go and practice a number of times prior to the world champs. The days of just turning up and hopefully being lucky with our approach from information gained off the internet are over. Unfortunately this all takes time and significant money which has to be found if we are to compete. The South Africans spent 100k this year and went home without a medal. The Bulgarians said they spent 80k and they live next door and went home with silver. The Romanians spent in excess of two million euros creating the venue and hosting the event.
As a management duo we have generally sacrificed our whole fishing season organizing the trials, team meetings, workshops with specialist consultants, all for this event. The only shining light in all this is the team’s own preparation and commitment to the process and each other which has been something really special to behold and be extremely proud of. If we were going back tomorrow we would still take the same team as what we witnessed in Romania was a true English team spirit and grit in the face of extreme adversity. As mentioned, this all takes time and a commitment to the England cause and also means giving most of their other fishing up next year to solely concentrate on the world championships venue in Portugal, if we are to have any chance of winning a gold medal.
England team member Jake Wildbore commented “As a team we have been through highs and massive lows. The team is more unified than ever before. This year’s event had all the necessary elements to ensure the team a good result. The unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances that restricted our efforts have been forgotten and the team will learn from this year and approach Portugal with a clear head and even more conviction.”
Dick Clegg OBE. International Events Director for the Angling Trust stated.
‘ When Ian and Pete took over the roles of manager and coach of England’s Carp team I was convinced that I had appointed two people who were capable of winning Gold. This result although extremely disappointing for all has not changed my mind. I have seen the professional way that they conducted all the pre match practices and organised the logistics of transporting both team and equipment to Romania and I know that we will soon be back on the podium.
It is obvious from the information that I have received that questions need to be asked about certain aspects of the event.
I am due to attend a FIPSed technical meeting in mid November and I will certainly require an explanation to a number of problems arising from these championships.’
Dick also mentioned that he and the Angling Trust Team would like to thank Korda for all their help and support along this journey.
Three bests in one session
Dean Pawsey had to wait 25 years to break his personal best – and then did it three times in one session at Fenland Fisheries Willow Lake.
Mirrors of 34lb 13oz, 35lb 14oz and 42lb 8oz graced his net following a change of swims, all of which beat his previous best of 21lb.
Casting to a gravel bar at 25 yards range, the 53-year-old, Sawtry-based builder offered Mainline Cell hookbaits over a dozen freebies on Fox Arma Point hooks and 15lb Coretex hooklinks.
Three fish for 111lb on solid bags
Simon Harbottle landed three fish for a combined weight of over 111lb during a 72 hour session on the Monk’s Pit syndicate in Cambridgeshire.
The fishing had been very slow over the past week so the 42-year-old Stockton-On-Tees-based rod decided to avoid fishing over a large bed of bait and instead put his faith in a solid PVA bag approach with the hope of nicking a bite or two.
After a couple of laps of the lake he had noticed a few carp showing out towards the centre of the lake, and following a quick lead around he located a clear channel in among the thick Canadian pondweed at around 100yds to fish over.
Despite fish still showing, Simon had to wait to until the following morning for his first take. “It weeded me up straight away and I had to go out in the boat to free it,” he told Angling Times. “I got over the top of it and soon had a huge ball of weed coming towards the net. Back on the bank, once I’d cleared the weed, I realised I caught one of the lake’s known big mirrors which tipped the scales at 42lb 10oz.”
Almost exactly 24 hours later his alarm signalled another hooked fish which resulted in a 39lb 10oz mirror on the bank.
“On the final morning I’d just made myself a brew when the bobbin on the left-hand rod pulled up tight. I had to go out in the boat again because the fish weeded me up and I was soon heading back to the bank with a 30lb 6oz mirror.”
The trio of specimens all fell to snowman rigs consisting of Nash Scopex Squid Red bottom baits and pop-ups. These were placed inside solid PVA bags filled with boilie crumb, a couple of whole boilies and pellets.
52lb 2oz mirror tops 'session of a lifetime'
Shaun Gilbert smashed his personal best by over 34lb when he landed this 52lb 2oz mirror from Elphick Fisheries North Lake.
The 24-year-old was woken by a series of single bleeps on his alarm just after first light and thought he hooked into the venue’s only bream. “As soon as I lifted in to it I knew it wasn’t a slab and it was another 20 minutes before I even saw the fish. It took half an hour in total to get it in the net, at which point my mate told me it was the Big Girl. The next day I landed carp of 35lb 8oz, 23lb 5oz and 18lb, making it by far the best session of my life.”
All of his fish were taken on Mainline Cell boilies tipped with a piece of artificial corn.
PB 50lb 12oz common from Essex syndicate
Eddie Marsh broke both his personal best and the lake record with this 50lb 12oz common caught during a four day session on an Essex syndicate water.
The 47-year-old operations manager had snapped the top section of one of his rods while casting out so had to improvise and use his marker rod instead.
He then cast a CarpBait UK The Nail boilie hookbait to a gravel shelf 60 yards from the bank and baited the feature with just 20 freebies.
David Preston bags Single Scale at 53lb
Just a week after banking a 44lb 10oz mirror from the ultra-tricky Ashmead Carp Syndicate, David Preston has banked the lake’s largest resident known as Single Scale at 53lb.
The Preston Innovations boss stuck with scaled-down tackle approach and after seeing a large fish show at close range he cast out a 10mm Avid High Lite hookbait on a simple pop-up rig tied with a Captive coated braid hooklink and a prototype hook.
“The carp are extremely cagey in the lake so I used backleads to keep my line pinned down,” said David. “This did the trick and it wasn’t long before my alarm screamed into life. Ashmead is made up of narrow channels, spits and small bays, so the fight was an experience to say the least. Following a lengthy scrap and a few last-minute lunges, I eventually bundled the mirror into the net.”
55lb 8oz mirror from The Avenue
Targeting a quiet bay of RH Fisheries’ The Avenue in Shropshire paid off for Brian Dunlop when he landed this 55lb 8oz mirror.
It was the second time this year which the Birmingham-based rod had landed the sought after fish after catching it at a spawned out weight of 45lb 8oz a couple of months ago.
Fishing to the edge of a small island at 25 yards range he used a Pyramid Baits PP60 boilie hookbait over a light scattering of freebies and received the all-important bite on the final afternoon of his 48 hour session.
The Turtle caught at 54lb 4oz
After losing the huge mirror known as The Turtle in April, Glenn Beardsall finally set the record straight when he banked it at a weight of 54lb 4oz from Wellington Country Park in Berkshire.
Setting up on the back of a westerly wind in a swim which he hadn’t fished for over a year, the Buckinghamshire-based RAF employee saw a few fish show and following a quick lead around decided to fish over an area of light weed at 100 yards range.
“The rods were all measured out, clipped-up and deposited out in the lake - one to the left and two to an area on the right,” he said. “There were no more shows during the rest of the day, so just before dark I baited up with about a kilo of chopped boilies went over two rods and 50 whole baits over the other.”
The night passed without event, but at 10am the next morning his left-hand-rod burst in to life resulting in a 28lb 6oz common.
Four hours later he received another take and his rod bent double as the fish tried to find sanctuary in the weed. “I managed to keep the fish moving, and except for a few anxious moments when some weed got jammed in the tip ring and I had to put the rod down to clear it, the fight went well,” said Glenn.
“I got a few of the other lads round to do the weighing as I was too nervous to look. They read out a weight of 54lb 4oz and confirmed that it was the Turtle. The capture was all the sweeter because I’d lost him in early April due to a hookpull for absolutely no reason. It also eased a few minds as he’d not been on the bank since last August when he weighed 52lb 2oz,” he added.
Glenn rounded the session off with a 35lb 10oz mirror using Mainline Baits New Grange hookbaits on size 6 Fox Arma Point SR hooks and Coretex hooklinks.
Change of fortunes produce 43lb 8oz mirror
Ted Bryan’s four day session on a southern stillwater didn’t start brilliantly with him losing two big carp. But his fortunes soon changed and he ended up putting eight fish on the bank – the highlight being this 43lb 8oz mirror.
The Sydenham-based specimen hunter moved swims to get a better casting angle towards a weed bed where he’d seen numerous fish showing.
Using Nash IC1 pop-ups in conjunction with PVA bags of chopped boilies and rock salt crystals he landed six twenties and a 32lb 4oz mirror before receiving a take from the biggest of the bunch while packing his gear away at the end of trip.
Third forty in three months
After spotting a couple of big carp cruising along the margins of a southern stillwater, Jack Price managed to catch this stunning 40lb 7oz mirror off the surface.
Before casting out his trimmed-down pop-up hookbait he catapulted out a handful of Chum Mixers and it wasn’t long before the fish were confidently slurping them down.
He said: “When I spotted the fish I quickly sprinted to my car and grabbed my floater rod. This is my third forty in the last three months and my second off the surface.”
Quick bite produces new pb
Within 15 minutes of casting out at a Chichester club water Lewis Errington hooked into this personal best 36lb 10oz mirror.
Casting to an overhanging tree just a few feet from the bank, the West Sussex-based rod also landed a 30lb 8oz linear during the trip.
Both fish were taken on snowman presentations consisting of Carp Company Fruity Nekta bottom baits and Fruit and Cream pop-ups on rigs tied with products from the Korda stable.
Chilham Mill's biggest mirror out at 42lb 10oz
Raking and resting his swim proved to be the key to success for Keiron Hearn when he landed this 42lb 10oz mirror from the Chilham Mill syndicate in Kent.
The Warlingham-based angler cast two rods to a gravel bar at 90 yards range and then set about clearing a spot of heavy weed down his left hand margin. This was then baited with a mixture of 15mm and 18mm SMA Baits Fruit and Nut boilies but he decided not to fish over the spot for the first night.
“That night I watched several carp showing over the spot but as tempting as it was I refrained from casting on top of them and let them build their confidence,” Keiron said.
The next morning he eventually positioned a rig on the spot along with another handful of boilies. After landing two small pike from the area during the day he altered his rig so that his Milky Toffee pop-up was only sat an inch off the lakebed as opposed to three.
“Just before I was about to turn in for the night I had a take out of the blue and from the sheer power of the fight I knew it was one of the lake’s big girls. When I lifted the net out of the water I recognised it as Chilly’s Fish – the most sought after carp in the venue. I had dreamed of catching this fish for years and never thought I’d land it during only my second season on the water,” he added.
Heavy baiting produces 36lb 8oz mirror
Fishing an area of the lake which he hadn’t targeted before paid off for Darren Belton when he landed five fish to 36lb 8oz from a southern stillwater.
All of his carp were taken from clear spots in the weed which he baited heavily with Mainline Baits Cell boilies.
After landing one fish during the first night he lengthened his hooklinks by a couple of inches and using a critically-balanced snowman hookbaits caught fish of 36lb 8oz, 29lb 8oz, 29lb 4oz and 23lb the next night.
Freelined breadflake fools 34lb mirror
Marc Eden proved that you don’t need an all singing and dancing rig or the latest wonder bait to catch big carp when he landed this personal best 34lb mirror on a freelined piece of slow sinking bread flake from a low-stock Nottinghamshire gravel pit.
The day prior to his session, the 38-year-old welder had found several carp cruising around on the surface, but when he arrived just after first light the following day his quarry were much harder to find.
“I spent ages walking around but couldn’t see anything until the sun started to really warm the water a bit and a few carp started moving in to a shallow area of the lake,” said Marc. “I could see several fish moving in and out of a bay and it was clear that they were taking the same route every time. As soon as I saw a couple of decent carp coming along the margin towards me I flicked my hookbait out towards them. It fell a few feet short of where I intended, but as I watched the big mirror turned towards it and sucked the bread flake in.”
Marc beat his prize with a 15lb Daiwa Sensor mainline tied directly to a size 4 ESP Big T hook.
“During the summer I hardly ever use boilies for carp and much prefer to try and catch them off the top or stalk them close in. By this time of year many venues have been hammered with floating baits and as a result the carp can become wary of them and hard to catch. In these situations I’ve found a slow sinking piece of bread flake to be much more effective because there’s a good chance they won’t have seen a bait like this,” he added.
42lb 7oz common caught from light weed
Setting up on the end of the wind proved to be the key to success for Jack Matthews who landed three carp from the Bayeswater syndicate in Essex, the highlight being this 42lb 7oz common.
After accurately casting to areas of light weed the trio of fish all came in a manic 30 minute period just before first light.
“I’ve caught 21 fish from the venue this season and this is the first common I’ve had. I literally couldn’t have asked for a better fish,” he said.
Jack used Nash Scopex Squid pop-ups on hinged rigs incorporating long braid boom sections to present the bait effectively over the weed.
41lb 9oz mirror on solid PVA bag approach
This 41lb 9oz mirror was the biggest of two fish caught by Cliff Kemp during a 24 hour session on Elphicks Fisheries West End Lake.
The Kent-based Fox consultant also landed a 29lb mirror from the three-acre venue and both fish were taken on 14mm Hartford Boilies fished inside a solid PVA bag filled with boilie crumb on a size 8 Fox Arma Point SSBP barbless hook and Reflex supple braid hooklinks.
Lincolnshire's biggest common landed
During an overnight session on a Lincolnshire stillwater Aaron Hill banked the county’s biggest common carp in the form of this 41lb 12oz common carp.
Targeting a plateau at 30yds range, the 19-year-old fooled the rarely caught specimen with a Denham Bait Innovations Inception X boilie hookbait over a scattering of freebies.
He beat his prize with a size 8 Korda Kurv hook and a 20lb N-Trap hooklink.
“The lake holds less than 20 carp and I caught most of the stock over the summer so I was glad to finally nail my target fish,” he said.
