Two 30lb-plus commons and both personal bests

A clear spot in the weed produced two personal best commons of 30lb 8oz and 32lb 6oz for Kai Richards.

The Hampshire-based 13-year-old fished over a bed of spodded particles and Mainline Cell boilies and the night before had even told his friend that he thought he was going to catch one of his syndicate’s big commons.

“I awoke to a screaming take at 6.30am and straight away it felt like a decent fish,” said the Gardner-backed youngster. “I soon got a glimpse of it and at first I thought it was mid-twenty, but when I got a better look I noticed it was a decent common and I soon slipped the net under it.

“I popped it in a sack for a few minutes and went to grab my mate. I commented about my prediction the evening before as we walked back to my swim. The scales read 30lb 8oz – a new PB common and I couldn’t believe it.”

Kai banked another common of 21lb 8oz and a mirror of 16lb 14oz before topping up the swim with bait.

“As I was tying some fresh rigs I had another take,” said Kai, “I called my mate over to help with the net and in the clear water I saw it was another big common. On the mat we soon recognised it as a named fish and it looked bigger than the one I’d had only a few hours before. The scales read 32lb 6oz – two common PBs in a day, what more could I have wanted!”
All the fish fell to a 15mm Cell boilie topped with a 12mm Clockwork Orange pop-up with a rig featuring 25lb Sink Skin and a size six Covert Incizor hook.