Target at last at 47lb

Kris Garrett has landed his target fish in the form of this stunning 47lb 5oz common from an Essex club water.

Braving torrential rain the local rod did a quick lap of the lake on arrival, but unable to see any signs of the carp he dropped in to a swim where he’d done a quick overnighter a few days earlier and put out 5kg of DT Baits Supa Fruit boilies.
At 5am a slow and steady take resulted in a 21lb common which brought an end to a nine night run of blanks on the tricky water.

“The wind then switched direction and my swim looked dead,” he told Angling Times. “I went for a walk and found a few fish showing in the teeth of the fresh wind so decided a change of swim was on the cards.”

Two single hookbaits were flicked out where he’d seen the fish and he received a single bleep on his right-hand rod almost straight away. “I looked at the spot and saw an eruption of bubbles hit the surface. I thought I’d been done but as I was setting my brolly up I had another bleep and the bobbin lifted half an inch.

Convinced a bream had just hung itself, I picked the rod up and put 20 turns on the handle before making contact with a fish that most certainly wasn’t a bream. After a typical big fish fight, including long, deep and powerful runs, I slipped the net under my dream fish. I have been targeting this common for little over a year and in that time I’ve banked a total of 51 carp from the venue. Bearing in mind the estimated stock is between 50 and 60 fish I certainly went through my fair share to get to my target.”

Kris beat his prize with a 20lb Fox Light Camo Camotex hooklink knotless knotted to a size 6 Arma Point SSBP hook fished helicopter style on a 30lb Gravel Submerge leader.