Dream brace at carp lake

THERE aren’t many anglers who can boast of catching a 4lb perch and a 2lb roach in a single session - but Ian Henderson is one man who can lay claim to such a feat after banking this pair of specimens from a Hertfordshire stillwater.

His first bite of the day came in the form of a 2lb 2oz redfin, and the experienced specimen hunter from Essex admitted it’s been almost 25-years since he has banked a roach of such proportions.

Due to the bright, sunny conditions in the morning he had to wait until late afternoon for the resident perch – his intended target species - to switch on, and it was a legered lobworm tail on a size 8 Drennan hook and a 4lb hooklink that eventually tempted the 4lb 8oz predator.

But the action didn’t stop there and he went on to land a perch of 3lb and a brace of twos from a spot at 20 yards range.

“Even though the weather has been much warmer of late, the water temperatures have been very slow to rise so the secret for the big perch has been not to overfeed and just introduce a couple of
broken lobworms,” said Ian.

“I have caught roach to 1lb 8oz from this lake in the past, but I never realised that they grew this big.
I was using pretty crude gear so I’m certain that if I fine down my rigs I’ll be able to discover the true potential of the lake and hopefully catch a really big one.

“It’s another excellent example of what’s on offer with regards to other coarse species at specimen carp fisheries.”