40lb mirror carp from Nottinghamshire stillwater
Picture a carp in its winter colours and you would probably conjure up the 40-pounder being held here by Nick Burrage.
The Gardner and Nutrabaits-backed angler tempted this 40lb 9oz mirror during a chilly session at a Nottinghamshire water.
The Shropshire rod said: “Turning up to a cold, windswept lake, with temperatures taken right down by the wind chill, I had a feeling the carp would be somewhere on the back of the wind.
“After a very quick bite in the shape of a 28lb fully scaled mirror just as the light was fading, I got talking to a friend and, the way the liners were coming, we were saying a lump was well and truly on the cards.”
After a quiet night, Nick began boiling his kettle for the first coffee of the day when one of his alarms let out a fast series of bleeps before falling silent.
“As I stood by the rods I watched carefully and saw a slight twitch as the bobbin tried its best to settle again. Not taking any chances, I picked the rod up to be greeted by a surge of power running the other way, stripping line and trying to hide in the nearest weed bed.
“I was soon playing a fish along with a clump of weed. With the line grating as it made contact with snail shells and the like, the soaked weed made the whole battle a bit of a nervous one.
“After uncovering my prize through the mountain of weed, I was over the moon to see her dark flanks catching the morning light!”
Nick fished Nutrabaits Trigga Ice boilies at 40 yards and used a snowman rig made with 20lb Gardner Trickster and a size 6 Wide Gap Talon Tip hook.
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Short session produces brace of 30lb-plus carp
Focusing on short sessions has given Josh Jones a string of big fish from a low-stock southern park lake.
The 24-year-old student has taken a 33lb 8oz mirror and a 33lb 4oz common in three eight-hour sessions that have also yielded commons of 28lb 4oz and 18lb 4oz.
The Londoner said: “In those three nights I managed five takes with four landed. The common was a personal-best common and came a couple of days after my birthday, which was a nice touch.”
Josh fished Sticky Krill and Pineapple & N-butyric pop-ups on combi rigs over a spread of boilies around weed at long range.
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Midnight start pays off with 42lb mirror carp
A decision to head off fishing at midnight paid off for Geert Ooms in the shape of this 42lb mirror.
The Belgian angler noticed perfect weather conditions after a night out with his wife and was given her blessing to head off in search of carp.
He said: “In the pitch black I set up in a swim that had not produced the previous week, but with the wind and rain forecast there was a decent chance of a fish or two moving towards this area so I just had to give it a try.”
Shortly after first light, Geert, who used Solar Chilli Club boilies, got the bite and tamed the fish after a 10-minute battle. He said: “On the mat I stared at this immaculate fish with four big scales sitting nicely in a row on one flank.”
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Pristine common in icy conditions
Temperatures down to -4c and a lake that hadn’t produced a fish for nearly two months didn’t stop Craig Runham from bagging this pristine common.
The Berkshire angler travelled to a local syndicate water more in hope than expectation, but came away with the beautiful 27-pounder.
The Korda and Mainline-backed angler said: “It was a dreary December day and the forecast did little to raise my enthusiasm, with the coldest night of the year ahead of me.
“After three laps of the lake I had nothing at all to go on. There was a cold north-easterly blowing across the lake so I decided to set up on the back of the wind fishing into the calmer water.”
Craig found two spots – one in 14ft at the base of a gravel bar and one a foot deeper in silt – and baited with maggots and washed-out Cell boilies.
With ice forming on the bivvy by 6pm, Craig endured a cold and biteless night.
“It was around 7.30am when my middle rod’s bobbin became unstuck from its frozen position on the ground and rose by a couple of inches. I was quickly above the rod when the bobbin lifted again and I watched the line cutting up through the clear margins.
“I picked up the icy blank and was met with no resistance. I tried winding down instantly but the line was frozen in the line clip on the rod. After a few nerve-racking seconds I freed the tangle and the fish woke up and almost pulled the rod from my numb hands.
“As the fish rolled into the mesh a large grin came across my face as I knew how lucky I had been, given the weather.”
Craig fished chod rigs made with 25lb Mouth Trap and the new Heli Safe lead-release system.
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Double celebration at Shropshire syndicate
A fishing trip to celebrate having a plaster cast removed and his 30th birthday yielded two fine twenties for Matt Wilding.
Six weeks after breaking his wrist, and a few days after his birthday, Matt was back on his Shropshire syndicate to bank a 29lb 11oz common and a 26lb 8oz mirror.
He said: “I have been a member of this syndicate since April and was yet to wet a line, so I decided that I would finally fish it.
“I was made up with the result and new blood on my syndicate. It was also a great belated birthday present.”
Matt spread 3kg of Baitcraft Savay Salmon boilies over a film silt patch at 60yds and fished chod rigs over the top.
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Long haul rewarded with 35lb mirror from Linch Hill
Park ranger Paul Webber made the trek up from Devon to Oxfordshire to catch this pretty Linch Hill mirror.
The 32-year-old snared the 35lb 6oz fish from Christchurch at the popular day-ticket complex.
Paul, from Honiton, targeted a silty area about 60 yards from the bank and baited with crumbed-up Sticky Krill boilies and maggots. His hookbait was a 12mm Krill dumbbell presented on a size 8 ACE Razor Point hook and a length of 25lb Black Deception hooklink material.
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Big bonus as banker bags Scar at 49lb
Banker Frank Cunningham got a Christmas bonus in the shape of this 49lb 2oz mirror from Kingsmead One in Berkshire.
The weekend-only angler benefitted from fishing away from other carpers to land the new personal best, which is known as Scar.
The 57-year-old said: “Working all week, I’ve been arriving late on a Friday evening and tending not to follow the crowd and doing my own thing. Last weekend was no different. The kennel end of the lake was quite busy so I decided to fish where the least angling pressure was, and this just happened to be on the back of the wind.
“After settling in I found a lovely silt spot at the back of a piece of gravel and was rewarded at 7.30am the next morning with the awesome Scar Mirror at a new pb of 49lb 2oz. What a fish! I must say a big thank you to Alistair and Jamie Gold for their help with the taking of the picture – as luck would have it my camera decided to pack up!
Frank added: “I’ve been doing really well on the tactic of seeking out the quieter swims and areas, and have also landed the Moonscale mirror at 43lb 12oz earlier in the year.”
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42ins hooklength helps bank brace of thirties
A massive 42ins hooklenght helped Lee Collings overcome a multitude of problems to bank two thirties and a twenty.
The 3ft 6ins hooklink was used to lie on top of dying weed during a two-night session at a busy Farriers Lake in Gloucestershire.
Lee said: “There were 14 anglers on when I arrived, with all the going swims stitched up, so it left me no option but to head to one of the weediest swims on the lake.”
After failing to locate any clear spots, Lee decided to fish on top of the retreating weed. He said: “I was fishing an area about 6ft deep, but the weed was 2ft to 3ft off the deck, and higher in some places. I had seen a couple of fish show in the general area so I opted to fish long 3ft 6ins ESP Stripteaze hooklinks to sit on top of the weed.”
The Midlands rod used a Mainline Hybrid pop-up as a hookbait, but struggled to bait up due to the resident birdlife.
“After the all the commotion of setting up and the birds diving I didn’t expect much to happen the first night, so I was more than surprised when I managed a 25lb 8oz common in the middle of the night.
“The next day was spent cursing the birdlife as they drove me nuts wiping both rods out on numerous occasions, but eventually managed to get everything settled just on dusk. Half an hour before first light the left-hand rod melted off and after a short battle and a load of weed I netted what felt like a good fish. After I had got the rod back out I was just sorting my camera out to do some self takes when the same rod ripped off again. It was a good job I had set up my spare net, and after a brief tussle I had two fish in the nets – and I still didn’t have a clue how big they were.
“The first fish weighed 35lb and the second fish weighed 37lb 8oz. I was over the moon with two thirties.”
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39lb 2oz mirror from southern gravel pit
A rain-lashed overnighter gave Richard Effamy this 39lb 2oz mirror.
The 29-year-old plastering contractor flicked his baits just 20 yards under a willow tree at a southern gravel pit to tempt the specimen.
The West Sussex angler said: “It was a very wet 12-hour overnighter. I got absolutely soaked!”
Richard fed about half a kilo of crumbed and chopped Sticky Krill boilies and fished a matching hookbait on a multi rig made with 25lb Atomic Jel-E-Wyre and a size 6 Gardner Chod hook.
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63lb 4oz common carp from the River Ebro
This huge 63lb 4oz specimen equals the River Ebro common carp record and was banked by globetrotting angler Martin Hodgkinson.
During a week-long trip on the Spanish waterway with Mequinenza-based Catfish Tours, the Nash Tackle consultant overcame tough conditions to also net four carp over 40lb, six thirties and nine twenties.
“We had to use 20oz of lead just to keep our rigs in position and battle against the huge rafts of weed that were hurtling down the river, but it was so worth it as the carp fishing on this river is absolutely terrific even in such testing conditions ,” Martin told Angling Times.
The Wolverhampton rod fished over beds of pellets with a 32mm pellet and a 20mm Nash Squid Scopex boilie fished snowman-style on a size 6 hook.
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Second 50lb-plus common for Dave Lane in a year
Dave Lane’s phenomenal 2014 got even better with the capture of this 51lb 4oz common on his birthday.
Having banked the elusive Burghfield Common at 55lb in July, Dave became possibly the only angler in history to land two 50lb commons in the same season with the capture of Kitch from Northey Park near Peterborough.
The Mainline and TF Gear-backed angler had only fished the Cambridgeshire venue for 12 nights since acquiring a winter ticket in October. Before last week’s momentous capture he had already caught two mid-thirties and a 22-pounder.
He told Angling Times: “The week before, I found the perfect spot from up a tree and put a bit of bait on it. I watched the swans come across and try to dive on it, but it was just out of their depth, which is crucial on there.
“When they went I caught the 22-pounder, so I put quite a lot of bait out and went back this week. In between, there had been two forties out of the lake and one was close to that area so I knew they had been on the bait.
“I did 24 hours and didn’t have a bite. Normally I would move, but I had a walk round and it still looked like the best spot. It was my birthday and I had been visualising catching that fish on that day, just dreaming about it as you do, but it got dark and the lake hadn’t done any bites between sunset and midnight so I thought my chance had gone.
“At 6pm I had two beeps and the fish came in like a lamb. That’s its signature so I had an idea which fish it was, but it was only 20 yards out and it came in with 20 turns of the reel. I did struggle to get it over the net cord and had to ‘double shake’ the net to get it in – that was a very twitchy moment!
“It’s a fantastic-looking fish, it’s like the Burghfield Common’s brother.”
In just over a year, Dave has caught 71 fish from Monks Pit in Cambridgeshire, 44 fish from Berkshire’s Burghfield and has now conquered Northey Park in a matter of weeks.
“I will have to go a very long way to beat this year,” he said. “I’m now going to Bundy’s Pit for the rest of the winter, and that has three 49lb-plus commons, so a hat-trick of fifties before Christmas would be nice!”
Dave fished Mainline Hybrid boilies on 360-degree rigs.
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Homemade boilies snare trio of common carp
George Dench used his own homemade boilies to take an impressive trio of commons.
Fishing at Luton Angling Club’s North House Lake, George caught the fish known as Myrtle at 31lb 6oz before latching into the Lobe Tailed Common at 29lb 8oz. His overnight session was completed with another common of 27lb 10oz.
The £65-a-year venue can be joined at www.lutonanglingclub.co.uk
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Six-fish haul from Monks Pit
A three-night session at Cambridgeshire’s Monks Pit gave Carl Sharp a six-fish hit.
Top of the lot was this 30lb 1oz mirror, which was backed up with three twenties and two doubles.
The Solar-backed West Midlander said: “One of the twenties was a 26lb 6oz ghostie which was sweet revenge as I lost that fish on a zig rig 18 months ago.”
All Carl’s fish were caught from a small hole in the weed at 60 yards on maggots coated in Solar’s Squid & Octopus Up & Down Mix. He presented then on a size 6 Solar 101 hook and Easy Strip hooklength.
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40lb mirror carp on first cast
Neil Messenger bagged this 40-pounder on his first cast.
Fishing from the Dam Wall Centre on the Main Lake at Essex’s Fryerning Fisheries, Neil tempted the 43lb 8oz mirror known as Charlie before he had finished setting up all his gear.
He said: “I was just about to chuck in my third rod when the alarm screamed off, resulting in my third rod being chucked in the hedge and a fish I dearly wanted in the net. I was well chuffed!”
Neil used DT Baits boilies.
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45lb 8oz mirror is 'fish of a lifetime'
Horton Church Lake rewarded one of its hard-working members with this 45lb 8oz mirror.
Roofer Tony Owen recently helped construct the impressive new lodge at the RK Leisure venue in Berkshire and has been fitting in his fishing around work.
The 48-year-old from Slough called the new personal best “a fish of a lifetime”. He added: “I have already paid my deposit for next year to try to catch a bigger one!”
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35lb mirror carp from Farriers Lake
The Carp Society’s Farriers Lake is famed for its big commons, but Rich Seeds tempted this 35lb 15oz mirror from the Gloucestershire venue.
The 31-year-old fishery manager fished 60yds out and caught a total of seven fish during his 24-hour session.
Baiting heavily with 5kg of 20mm Sticky Vor-Tex boilies over each rod, the Hampshire angler presented matching hookbaits on 6ins blowback rigs made with Korda 20lb N-Trap and size 6 Korda Kaptor Kurv hooks.
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Prebaiting brings home a brace of 34lb mirror carp
Finding a productive coldwater spot paid off in style for Wes Prowton as he banked a brace of 34lb mirrors during a five-fish hit.
The 27-year-old targeted an Oxfordshire stillwater and reaped the rewards of a prebaiting campaign to take two thirties alongside three commons of 22lb, 24lb and 26lb in a three-night session.
The Burford angler said: “I knew the fish would be starting to group up and I knew if I kept introducing bait into this spot that they would come across it.
“I’ve been properly fishing this venue for about two years and this is probably my best session on there. There are still a couple more fish I want to catch out of there, though.”
Wes fished at 86 yards and had the first 34-pounder at 3.10am on the first night. One of the smaller commons followed at 8am, and less than half an hour later he had the other 34lb mirror in the net.
“I’ve been using bog-standard tactics – just simple blowback rigs – and concentrating on finding where the fish will be,” said Wes, “when they start to group up in the colder weather it’s likely that if you have one bite you can get another and that’s why I fished two rods tight on the spot.”
Wes put 3kg of 16mm Sticky Krill boilies over the area and fished matching hookbaits on rigs made with Korda components.
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Two fish for 83lb from Fryerning Fisheries
A four-night session gave Carl Carlucci two fish for a combined weight of 83lb.
The Chelmsford angler targeted the Main Lake at Fryerning Fisheries and banked The Boss at 47lb and a seldom-caught 36lb mirror.
He said: “When I turned up it was foggy and fishing hard. I caught the first fish on the second night and then packed up my gear was going to go home, but I changed my mind and stuck it out, and had the 47-pounder on the last night.”
“The Boss is a crazy fish, it really fights hard,” said the 46-year-old. “The margin in front of me was 11ft deep and it was towing me up and down for a genuine 15 minutes – it really was on for a long time.
“The other fish was a very rare fish that has not been caught for at least four years to my knowledge.”
Carl, who only recently returned to carp fishing after a 13-year absence, has caught a number of big fish from the Essex venue this year.
He added: “It’s actually a repeat capture of The Boss for me, but it’s at a new top weight and you can’t pooh pooh catching a 47-pounder! It started the year at 41lb 12oz, so it’s put on over 5lb.”
Carl used Kryston monofilament hooklengths and size 6 Fox Arma Point hooks. He fed DT Baits’ Coldwater Green Beast boilies in mixed sizes and concentrated on a firm spot 50 yards out.
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Perch Common out at 46lb 14oz from Linch Hill
Linch Hill’s coveted Perch Common has fallen to Nick Hill at 46lb 14oz.
The fish came to the 26-year-old’s rods during a two-night session at Christchurch on the Oxfordshire venue.
The Abingdon electrician Spombed out a tight bed of maggots, sweetcorn and Sticky Krill pellets and boilies to a smooth area at 62 yards.
The fish picked up a single piece of fake corn topped with maggots attached to a blowback rig made with a size 8 Fox SSBP hook, Rig Marole Hyrdolink and an aggressively angled shrinktube kicker.
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Another Horton forty for Dan Leney
Big commons have followed Dan Leney this autumn, as proved by this latest chunk.
This 40lb 6oz common comes hot on the heels of the 46-pounder we reported on last week. The latest fish also came from RK Leisure’s Horton Island Lake in Berkshire.
Dan, who also caught three twenties during his two-night session, said: “I was beyond chuffed when the rod melted off at 6.30am on the final morning. An epic boat battle ensued before I netted what can only be described as another dream – like buses, another forty lay in my net.”
The 39-year-old teacher baited with maggots, corn and CC Moore Equinox boilies and Snails and Insect Meal.
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