30lb target mirror makes it a birthday to remember

Stu Morgan received the perfect birthday present in the form of one his target fish from a Hampshire gravel pit – this 30lb 9oz mirror.

The local Fox International-backed rod had put aside four days to spend on the venue and arrived to find the lake relatively quiet. After a quick look around he found the fish were spread all over the water but settled in a swim where the bulk of them were held up in front of.

He then located a smooth area of silt behind a gravel hump which he baited with a mixture of particles, pellets and boilies before casting two rigs over the top.

Two twenties were landed the following morning but a take the next morning saw him lift in to what felt like a better fish.

“Once in the margins I could clearly see it was a fish called Fingers even though I tried talking myself out of that until it was safely in the net as it was defiantly one from the wanted list,” he said. “I eventually won the battle and on the mat she had clearly spawned successfully as on her last capture she was in excess of 36lb while for me she weighed in at 30lb 9oz but the weight was immaterial.”

Stu beat his prize with a blow-back rig tied with an 8ins Fox Coretex Weedy Green hooklink and a size 7 Arma Point SSSP hook.