New River Thames carp record

This immaculate 43lb mirror is the biggest carp ever claimed from the main body of the River Thames.

The scaly chunk was caught by a regular Thames carper whose previous river best was 33lb. The 36-year-old from Maidenhead, Berkshire, refused to name the location of the historic capture and also declined to give his real name.

The angler and photographer, who writes online under the name Katch Bullet River Adventures, had baited the river with 20kg of Infusion Baits’ Snatch boilies since the start of the season.

He told Angling Times: “The Thames potential could be anything – the river is untapped and unknown. I have seen bigger.”

He added: “I got to my swim at 9.20pm after carrying a heavy load and set up all the equipment. After the rods were set I put on some Breaking Bad, sat back and waited for the magic.

“It was a swim I have been baiting for three weeks and had over a dozen chub from 6lb upwards, three barbel to 10lb and landed three carp and lost one.”

Having banked a mirror carp and lost another fish during the night, the angler received a screaming take at 7.15am.

He said: “I thought ‘this is big’. You know because it feels like a big bit of wood just floating in the river but not moving – a big sacks of spuds. But after 20 minutes we slipped the net under this big River Thames carp.”

The successful rigs featured double Snatch boilies presented on 15lb Rigmarole Hydro-Link and size 6 Fox Arma Point SSBP. These were fished on running leads in about 6ft of water.

A video of Katch Bullet’s previous river captures can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAc9BwLEZek

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