44lb 2oz common tops morning haul

THREE fish at sunrise, topped by a 44lb 2oz common, provided Daniel Fellows with some stunning images for his photo album.

The 26-year-old Birmingham-based angler took the big common, a 30lb mirror and a 22lb ghostie in a hectic period shortly after 5am at Linear Fisheries’ Unity Lake in Oxfordshire.

Daniel, who fished a 24-hour session, said: “After seeing plenty of fish showing on the surface in the hot weather I settled into a swim called the Dance Floor.

“I then cast around with the marker rod with no float to find a decent area to fish. I found spots at 70, 80 and 90 yards. All were soft silty areas with around 2 to 3 inches of weed and silkweed to fish in.

“I then cast three chod rigs with Mainline Cell pop-ups on to the spots, feeling the lead down.

“Just before dark, at around 10pm, I put in about 2kg of Cell boilies with a throwing stick over a wide area of about 30 yards over the rods.”

Daniel, who has been a member of the lake for nine months and recently had a 17-fish haul including a 39lb ghostie named Orange Spot, added: “After a warm, sweaty night getting a few liners, the left-hand rod roared off with a 22lb ghost carp at about 5am. As I was netting that, my right-hand rod went off and after about 15 minutes I knew I was in to a good fish. As his head came up out of the water I knew it was the big common; his head was huge!

“The guy next door saw I was having fish so he came round to lend a hand. As we were getting ready to take pictures the last rod went off and produced a lovely 30lb mirror! What a session!”