First Hollybush 40 for Ian Chillcott

On his return to the venue where he first cast out a hair-rig back in the eighties, Ian ‘Chilly’ Chillcott has caught the complex’s first ever 40lb-plus carp in the form of this 40lb 10oz mirror.

The historic Hollybush Lakes complex situated in Hampshire has been fished by some of the biggest names in the sport over the years, and was a venue which the Fox International-backed rod had been baiting up with the intention of fishing over the winter.

After catching fish of 30lb and 27lb the week before, he setup in a swim which allowed him to cast to a silt patch close to a band of weed running between two islands at 40yds range. Both rods were baited with 15mm Mainline Hybrid pop-ups  tipped with a piece of yellow corn over three kilo of mixed 10mm and 15mm boilies.

“At 5am one of my rods ripped off and I leant in to what I, at first, thought was a stockie,” he told Angling Times. “It then started to do the usual big fish thing of slowly plodding around and any doubts of it being a small fish quickly disappeared.”
A further 20 minutes passed before Chilly netted his prize, beating the long-standing fishery record of 37lb 8oz - a fish caught by Denis Langley in 1974 – in the process.

“As it went over the net cord I thought to myself, ‘that’s a good thirty’, but when the fish rolled over and I saw how deep it was I realised it was a little bit special. To catch the first ever forty from such a historic venue really means a lot to me,” he added.

Chilly mounted his hookbaits on hinged-stiff rigs tied with 25lb Fox Illusion and size 5 Arma Point SR hooks.