41lb 8oz common carp on 13ft zig rig

Frank Warwick snared his biggest-ever zig-caught fish with this 41lb 8oz common from the Bluebell Lakes complex.

The Manchester rod took the seldom-caught lump from Kingfisher Lake at the Northamptonshire venue on an Enterprise Tackle Zig Beetle set at 13ft in 17ft of water.

The well-known carper told Angling Times: “After a good walk round I had seen nothing so I got on the back of the cold wind. I was by myself and you’re in trouble if you try to land a fish on your own on a 13ft hooklink so I reluctantly fished bottom baits for the first night and looked for liners.

“I got liners on my middle rod so as soon as my mate turned up I switched two rods over to zigs; one on black foam and the other on the Zig Beetle. It was the Zig Beetle that tore off and as soon as I hit it I said it was a real lump. It was just irresistible and took me 20 minutes to get in.

“It’s the biggest British fish I’ve caught on a zig and not one of the two 40lb commons that normally come out of Kingfisher. I looked back through the galleries and found only a couple of previous captures in the last five years. I’m sure it will go on to be a very big fish.”

Frank, who switched to bottom baits the following day and lost three fish in quick succession, used a size 10 Fox hook and a 10lb Stroft hooklength.