Fake maggots fool 32lb 12oz mirror

STEWART Moss took advantage of the unseasonably mild weather over the festive period to land this 32lb 12oz mirror from an Oxfordshire gravel pit.

The Drennan International employee fooled the darkly-coloured specimen with eight artificial maggots threaded on to a short three inch ESP Soft Ghost Fluorocarbon hooklink and a size 8 Raptor hook.

This was offered in conjunction with an inline lead over a lightly spodded area of maggots, corn and maples.

He said: “I caught the fish early in the morning on Christmas Eve and it was the only bite I had over two different 24 hour trips. Despite the settled mild conditions and favourable south westerly winds the carp seemed very inactive, possibly because of the big rise in the lake water levels due to flooding.”