Snag fishing produces four thirties to 39lb

AN UNEXPECTED 48 hour session on a southern syndicate saw Harry Charrington help himself to five carp including four over the 30lb-barrier.

The 23-year-old Fox International media assistant had originally planned to just fish an overnighter after work on the Friday but following the cancellation of a social arrangement over the weekend he decided to stay on.

He said: “During the night I’d heard a load of fish crashing in a snaggy corner of the lake so I decided to move swims to that area.

“The fish in the venue love a boilie and I’d brought 4kg of Richworth S-Core with me. Unfortunately I’d put out 3kg of it on the first night so had to ration the last kilo. I baited two spots close to the snags and one in open water, each with about 40 baits, which was less than I would have liked but hopefully enough to spark some interest.”

An hour and a half later he received his first take which came on his left hand rod fished towards the snags. “When snag fishing you have to fish strong and have your reel completely ‘locked up’. Worrying about whether the fish can see or feel your line is futile, because if you fish too light or with slack lines and a loose clutch you will probably lose the fish. I used 15lb WarriorXT mainline, which is like tow rope, fished tight down to a 4oz lead on a Slik Lead Clip.”

Despite doing its best to find sanctuary in the snags, Harry managed to coax the fish into open water and was soon scooping up a 39lb 10oz mirror in the net.

Shortly after repositioning the rod it was away again, this time a 32lb 12oz mirror the culprit, and that evening the same rod produced a 38lb 4oz specimen. Fish of 27lb and 37lb 4oz during the night completed the memorable trip.

All of his carp fell to snowman rigs incorporating S-Core bottom baits and pink pop-ups. These were mounted on rigs tied with Fox Edges Coretex Matt coated braid and size 4 Arma Point SSBP hooks.
“I was absolutely over the moon with the 39lber and to back that up with a number of other real bigguns was quite surreal, this was easily my best ‘big fish’ session ever,” he added.