New personal best carp from Hunstrete for club bailiff
Bathampton AA club bailiff Aaron Burke took a break from his duties to land this new personal best 36lb 4oz mirror from the society’s Hunstrete Lake.
The Bristol-based rod had only had his rods in for position for a couple of hours when he landed a 21lb common. The best was still to come, though, and 60 minutes later he received a second take -this time the culprit being the sought after specimen known as The Pig.
“The common and the big mirror made it a special day for me. I’ve been after a UK thirty for ages,” said Aaron, who offered a Supreme Baits 16mm Spicy Seafood boilie on a snowman rig with a 12mm Richworth S-Core pop-up.
30lb common from Nene Valley
This 30lb common was caught by Luke Griffiths during a recent session on a tricky five-acre gravel pit in the Nene Valley.
The 25-year-old Peterborough-based landscape gardener found success when he offered a Mainline Baits Milky Toffee pop-up hookbait on a clear area over a scattering of the new Hybrid boilies.
After a spirited scrap he got his prize to the bank with the help of a hinged-stiff rig constructed with a Fox Coretex Matt boom section and a 25lb Rigidity pop-up section attached to an Arma Point SR hook.
Target 38lb mirror after four year wait
A quick overnight session on a local water resulted in Jak Bryant landing his target fish – Seven Scales at an impressive weight of 38lb.
The Hampshire-based rod woke at 4am after an uneventful night and decided to re-bait his rods and put out around 20-30 CC Moore Live System boilies over each rod.
He said: “45 minutes I had a powerful run and as soon as I picked up the rod I had a feeling I was attached to my target fish. The fight seemed to last for ages but I finally slipped my net under the fish I’ve been chasing for around four years.”
Jak used a tweaked version of the KD rig consisting of a size 8 Gardner Covert Longshank Mugga hook and a Sink Skin hooklink.
Two 70lb carp in under 12 hours
There aren’t many people in the world who can claim to have caught two 70lb carp in under 12 hours, but Wayne Cooper is one of them.
The British angler, who now lives in France, was fishing at Rainbow Lake in his adopted country when he snared a 72lb common and the former world record carp, the Ken Dodd Fish, at 74lb 2oz on the same day.
Both fish fell to Solar’s Chinese Take-Away boilies.
39lb 8oz mirror carp in howling storm
Rich Shelley came close to breaking the magical 40lb-barrier with this 39lb 8oz mirror caught during a recent session on an Essex syndicate.
The Fox International sales manager spent three hours walking round the lake looking for signs of showing fish but with the light rapidly fading and nothing showing he had to follow his gut instincts and set up where he thought they were residing.
He said: “I cast one rod with a single hookbait towards the far margin and the other two closer in over 4kg of boilies and a jar of hemp. Three hours later the single rod signalled a take and I proceeded to land a carp of 35lb 10oz.”
The next day and night passed without event but on the final morning his left-hand-rod over the bed of bait burst in to life.
“It was at this time that the storm hit at full force and there was debris flying through the air and trees creaking as I was playing the fish. I got the fish in the net and photographed as quickly as possible before making the decision to pack up and make a hasty exit!”
Rich offered a pop-up hookbait on a size 5 Arma Point SSSP hook and a 20lb Coretex Matt hooklink.
Wyreside fish of 39lb 4oz makes it a fishery hat-trick
A deep clay spot in 38 foot of water produced this immaculate 39lb common for Lee Walton during his latest session on the notoriously tricky Bundy’s Pit near Peterborough.
The 45-year-old Wickersley Angling Centre employee had spent three days in the swim without any action so moved to a different area. However, he felt certain that with his lines out of the swim the fish would have moved over his original baited spot so decided to up sticks once more and head back to his first peg.
His hunch paid off when he hooked in to the impressive specimen shortly after his return.
“The fish in Bundy’s are very old and as such are well aware of factors such as lines in the water,” Lee told Angling Times. “I’ve seen them in past move on to people’s bait once they’ve packed up and left so I felt sure that if I could let them feed confidently without my lines in the water I would have a better chance of catching one.
“Fishing in 38ft of water might sound quite extreme to some people but Bundy’s is very deep and the fish will quite happily feed in these depths.”
Lee offered home-made 12mm fruity pop-ups over 2kg of freebies on hinged-stiff rigs tied with Fox Coretex Stiff booms and Rigidity hook sections attached to size 7 Arma Point SR hooks.
39lb common from 38ft of water
A deep clay spot in 38 foot of water produced this immaculate 39lb common for Lee Walton during his latest session on the notoriously tricky Bundy’s Pit near Peterborough.
The 45-year-old Wickersley Angling Centre employee had spent three days in the swim without any action so moved to a different area. However, he felt certain that with his lines out of the swim the fish would have moved over his original baited spot so decided to up sticks once more and head back to his first peg.
His hunch paid off when he hooked in to the impressive specimen shortly after his return.
“The fish in Bundy’s are very old and as such are well aware of factors such as lines in the water,” Lee told Angling Times. “I’ve seen them in past move on to people’s bait once they’ve packed up and left so I felt sure that if I could let them feed confidently without my lines in the water I would have a better chance of catching one.
“Fishing in 38ft of water might sound quite extreme to some people but Bundy’s is very deep and the fish will quite happily feed in these depths.”
Lee offered home-made 12mm fruity pop-ups over 2kg of freebies on hinged-stiff rigs tied with Fox Coretex Stiff booms and Rigidity hook sections attached to size 7 Arma Point SR hooks.
Thirteen fish banked in one session including 'The Sergeant' out at 39lb 3oz
Daniel Fellows braved the storms and was rewarded with one of his remaining target fish from the Richworth Linear Fisheries Unity syndicate – The Sergeant at 39lb 3oz.
The impressive mirror was the highlight of the 26-year-old Birmingham based rod’s 13 fish haul which included seven carp over the 25lb-barrier.
Arriving early on the Saturday morning, and with gale force winds forecast, Daniel headed to a sheltered area of the lake which allowed him to cast tight to an island where he seen fish showing close to an overhanging willow tree.
“I set up all three rods with chod rigs as I wanted to ensure my baits were presented effectively over all the leaves, branches and other debris that was likely to be on the lakebed,” he said. “The bank of the island is undercut so I cast within one foot of the island at 100 yards as that’s where the fish patrol. Getting the bait out with the throwing stick in the strong winds wasn’t easy but I eventually had a kilo of boilies on the spot.”
The first night of the trip produced three mirrors and over the next four days he continued to catch two or three fish a day by keeping the swim regularly topped up with 18mm boilies.
“On Thursday, things had gone quiet and the fish had stopped showing. My mate had brought me some more bait down so I set about putting another 2kg out before getting my head down for an afternoon nap. I was woken by a screaming receiver and could see my middle rod wrapped round. I struck into it and the fish started taking line even though I had the clutch set tight. At first I couldn’t do anything with the fish and just had to hold on. After 20 minutes or so I started to get the better of it, however, and when I looked down in the net I recognised The Sergeant.
“All my hard work had paid off - getting up early, continuously baiting up and fighting the winds. It was all worth it and I had something to show for it. What a season I have had. Catching Orange Spot at 39lb 12oz and the big common at 44lb 2oz earlier in the year, and now The Sergeant – one of the best looking carp I’ve ever seen - at 39lb 3oz. I'll certainly never forget 2013!”
Wingham 86lb weekend brace
Not content with winning this year’ British Carp Angling Championship and banking a 51lb mirror in the spring, Matt Jones has bagged an 86lb brace during a weekend session.
The Croydon angler banked a 44lb 4oz common within an hour of arriving at Kent’s Wingham syndicate, and followed it up with a 41lb 4oz mirror exactly 24 hours late.
In May, the 41-year-old company director caught the up-and-coming venue’s first 50-pounder in the shape of a 51lb 10oz mirror. This time around he was fishing to a trough next to an island which he had baited at the end of his previous session the week before.
He said: “Wingham is an awesome fishery with young English carp. The mirror is yet another new 40-pounder, and the 44lb common is well up in weight. My target is an even bigger common that’s already reached 47lb 8oz. It would really round off a brilliant season if I caught this at over 50lb as well!”
Matt baited with Urban Baits’ Nutcracker boilies and used a hinged stiff rig comprising a size 6 Korda Choddy hook tied to ESP materials.
3lb 9oz perch from Frant Lakes
Ian Voss is one of a growing number of anglers to capitalise on the potential of commercial fisheries to produce specimen perch with the capture of this 3lb 9oz fish.
The impressive predator was one of several caught during a session at Frant Lakes Fishery in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, on the complex’s Waterfall Lake 5 - a pool renowned for its big stripeys.
The venue regular targeted a swim known as The Snags and took all of his fish on a small spinner.
For further information contact the fishery on: 01892 616424.
Linear's biggest-ever mirror is so close to the 50lb mark
The biggest carp ever to come from Linear Fisheries was banked by Paul Girling last week.
The Essex rod caught the mirror known as Popeye from Manor Farm Lake at an all-time high of 48lb 4oz.
Forty-year-old Paul explained: “We arrived on Friday morning and, after spending time patrolling the lake, I noticed some fish showing off the point near to swim 19. I found a clear gravel spot with the marker rod at about 60 yards.”
Paul baited with 15 to 20 spods of hemp, corn, chopped boilies and particles, and about 50 Mainline New Grange boilies. Having topped up the bait on Saturday, Paul received a screaming take on Sunday morning.
“It was a slow and deliberate movement through the water, but after a fight of around 10 to 15 minutes I could see it was a lump on the surface. As it came in close, it took one more lunge and picked up one of my other lines, which caused chaos, but I managed to turn the fish again and guide it into the net.
“I could clearly see this fish had beaten my PB of 29lb 10oz but I didn’t realise how big it was until I tried to lift it out in the sling!”
The fish was weighed on two sets of scales and confirmed as Popeye by fishery officer Chris Blunt.
Paul’s rig featured a size 6 Korda Kurv Shank hook tied to N-Trap Semi-Stiff. A New Grange wafter was attached via a blowback ring and a PVA stick of pellets and groundbait were covered in Almond Goo.
Father and son net string of personal-bests at Orchid Lakes
A father-and-son duo shared a ‘magical’ string of personal bests on their first visit to Orchid Lake.
Graham and Joel Parsons banked eight fish between them, including four thirties and four twenties from the Alamo swim at the Oxfordshire venue.
Graham, whose previous best was 30lb 6oz, snared mirrors of 30lb 10oz and 35lb 2oz, alongside a 32lb common. His son Joel managed a 32lb 4oz mirror to beat his own personal best, and also netted three other twenties and a mid-double.
“It was a brilliant session – magical,” said 58-year-old Graham. “We’re from north Devon and we’ve been up to Linear before, but Joel wanted somewhere with a good head of thirties so went to Orchid.
“We got the markers out and found a bar at about 50 yards. I put three rods on it and my son put two there, with one a bit further out.”
The pair, who fished for five nights and had fish at all times of the day, baited with a mixture of Mainline New Grange and Cornwall Bait Special Occasion boilies, along with sweetcorn and maggots.
“Every cast I put on PVA bag of tuna flakes, pellets and sweetcorn, all dipped in hemp oil,” said Graham, who fished blowback rigs featuring Korda N-Trap Soft.
41lb mirror from Christchurch on washed-out baits
Washed out baits proved to be the key to success for Baz Lloyd who landed one of Christchurch’s A-Team – this 41lb 2oz mirror.
The Cheshire-based 26-year-old arrived at the day-ticket water on Oxfordshire’s Linch Hill complex to be told that the water had been fishing extremely hard, producing just one fish in the last 18 days and none in the last nine.
He said: “The lake was very quiet and there was only three other anglers on because of how hard it had been fishing. I set up in a swim called the Plate as this is an area the fish are known to turn up in when they are on the feed. I fished all three rods tight to a silt patch among the weed at 70 yards which I baited with 5kg of washed out Sticky Krill boilies and I was confident of a take if the fish did switch on.”
The lake looked set to continue its tough run of form with the first two nights Baz’s 72 hour session passing without event. Things started to look up, however, when fish started crashing all over the water on the final night.
“The final morning produced a double take at 6am. The first fish to grace the net was a very welcome 22lb 6oz common and the other was one of the lake’s most sought after residents – The Long Fish at 41lb 2oz.”
He got his prize to the bank with the help of a size 6 Korda Wide Gape hook and a 20lb Korda N-Trap Silt hooklink.
Two River Nene carp for 64lb
Daniel Hadman achieved his target of catching a 30lb-plus carp from the River Nene in style with a brace of specimens for a combined weight of over 64lb.
The Peterborough-based car salesman spent two weeks prebaiting a stretch on his local waterway with Premium Carp Fishing Pickled Krill 24mm boilies in a bid to avoid the shoals of bream.
Arriving in the early hours of the morning he received a screaming take within 20 minutes of casting out and following a slow and heavy fight he netted a 28lb 5oz common.
“Shortly afterwards my alarm signalled another fast take and I was flat-rodded by the fish as I tried to slow its initial run,” Daniel told Angling Times. “I eventually got it close to the net and for some reason flicked my head torch on to have a peek. This proved to be a massive mistake as I spooked what looked to be an upper-thirty mirror and as it flew off down the margin my hook pulled.”
He didn’t have long to lick his wounds, however, as just after first light the third fish of the trip made its mistake.
“Another slow and heavy fight followed so I knew it was a decent fish. I guided what I could see was a 30lb-plus common towards the net and let out an almighty roar when it went over the cord.”
On the bank his prize tipped the scales at a weight of 35lb 11oz. “To say I was made up is an understatement and I would class 64lb of river commons as one of my best ever fishing results,” he added.
Anchor out at 42lb 1oz from Essex Manor
Nathan Bailey has been in decent autumn form of late, picking up fish of 38lb 1oz and 42lb 1oz from Essex Manor.
The Greys-backed rod caught the 38lb 1oz fish during a weekend session on the busy venue before catching the forty known as the Anchor on a subsequent two-nighter.
Having moved into an in-form area for the second night of that session, Nathan still wasn’t satisfied that he was on the fish. He explained: “Normally after dark you start to see a few, but things were a bit quiet for my liking. At this point I started to get itchy feet and a few hours after dark I could not take any more, so I had a wander to the other end to see if I was missing out on anything.
“As I approached I clearly heard one top and as I stood there, one after the other showed, which made my mind up instantly and a move was soon under way.”
Having got all three rods out first time, Nathan settled down with confidence and soon received a couple of bleeps on his alarms.
He said: “To be honest the fight was nothing spectacular and didn’t trouble my 3lb AirCurve rod, which suited me fine.
“As I turned the fish on its side in the net I instantly knew it was a fish called the Anchor due to its unique scale pattern. It was one I had been talking about to my mates for some time now as I was desperate to catch it!”
Nathan used DT Bait’s Green Beast boilies and G Force rig components.
Park Lake 40lb carp comes in first hour of session
A two night session on a Kent Park Lake produced this chunky 40lb 2oz mirror for Wesley Coggeshall.
The 33-year-old local ventilation engineer had a good walk around the water on his arrival and eventually decided to set up in a swim that he’d caught a couple of fish from recently.
He said: “Within an hour of getting my rods out I had the 40lb 2oz mirror laying in the bottom of my net. The venue has got a very good stock of large carp so I’m looking forward to spending more time on there over the coming months.”
Wesley mounted 20mm Sticky Krill bottom baits on size 6 G-Force Straight Point hooks and 25lb Blackout hooklinks.
37lb 4oz mirror heads an impressive session
This stunning 37lb 4oz mirror was the highlight of a three fish catch taken by Scott Sweetman during a four day session on a Berkshire club water.
As well as the impressive specimen known as Crop Tail, the 26-year-old’s trip also yielded a 38lb mirror called Pearly and The Leney at 28lb.
All of his fish were taken during a 24 hour period from a patch of silt at 30 yards range which he had baited with a light scattering of Sticky Krill boilies before casting pop-up hookbaits over the top.
“The venue doesn’t have a particularly big stock of fish so I was delighted to get three in a session,” said the Cippenham, Berkshire-based set dresser.
“Crop Tail was an excellent addition to the photo album but there’s a few other bigger fish that I’m still targeting in the venue so hopefully my run of form will continue,” he added.
Scott mounted his hookbaits on hinged-stiff rigs comprising Korda N-Trap boom sections and Korda Mouthtrap attached to size 6 Atomic Chodda hooks with light 1.5oz leads.
23lb common from old quarry
An old quarry containing fewer than 10 fish produced this 23lb 2oz common for Ross Haselwood.
The carp was taken from the challenging 80ft-deep venue on just half an 18mm boilie, fished without any free offerings.
Ross said: “I was fishing the top of a shelf with just a single hookbait and hooked the fish at about 8.30pm. After a truly epic battle that lasted 30 minutes I was well and truly chuffed to bits with this fish.
“She’s an old girl and was worth the rain, the dangerous trek to the cliff face and getting wet while running for the rod!”
78lb best of 26-fish net from Rainbow Lake
This huge 78lb mirror was the highlight of a 26 fish haul during Tony Kenrick’s two week session at former record venue Rainbow Lake in France.
The 50-year-old from St Helens caught the impressive specimen known as Briggs’ Fish from close to an island surrounded by sunken trees at 150 yards which he baited with a bed of boilies and mixed particles.
Over the top of this he offered a Sticky Krill boilie hookbait on a heavy duty rig comprising 50lb braid, and a 45lb hooklink attached to a Solar 101 hook in conjunction with a 10oz drop-off lead.
He said: “This is actually the second time I’ve had Briggs’ Fish this year as I also had it at 84lb in March.”
Second trip to Baden Hall produces 42lb common carp
Chris Jennings didn’t waste any time getting among the larger residents of Baden Hall’s Quarry Pool with the capture of this 42lb 10oz common on only his second session at the tricky Staffordshire venue.
The local 32-year-old located a smooth clear area 60 yards from the bank and primed the spot with a gallon of maggots and chopped Mainline Cell boilies.
“I’d been told that the lake had been fishing pretty slow over the last couple of weeks with very little getting caught,” he said. “That evening I saw loads of fishing over my baited area before one of my rods eventually rattled off. It’s the first time that this fish has been caught over the 40lb-barrier,” added Chris, who put his faith in a trimmed-down Cell pop-up tipped with four artificial maggots.
He beat his prize with a Fox Coretex hooklink and a size 6 Arma Point LS hook with his hookbait mounted on a micro rig swivel.
Also getting in on the action was Luke McPeake who landed a new lake record mirror of 39lb 11oz following a change of swims.
Head bailiff Roy Russell: “Quarry Pool is in excellent form at the moment. The venue’s biggest common is still due out and there are two mirrors which are bigger than the 39lb that must be over the 40lb barrier now.”
