Mirror carp 'Scale on the Shoulder' falls to a Sticky Krill boilie

This mirror carp known as Scale on the Shoulder weighed in at 40lb 8oz and topped a three-fish catch for Rob Gooch.

The 38-year-old’s weekend session at a Bedfordshire clay pit also produced a fish of 31lb 2oz and a mid-double.

The Hertfordshire angler arrived at the busy venue on a Friday evening and settled into a swim in the centre of the lake. Baiting a bar at 50yds and a plateau at 75yds, it was the longer-range rod that produced.

“Just into dark I had a couple of liners, leaving me hopeful for the night ahead,” said Rob. “At around 1am I got another couple of line bites, one of which had me running from the bivvy, but within a short time my right-hand rod fished on the plateau gave a few bleeps and sailed away.”

After a dogged scrap, Rob netted the 31-pounder and managed a mid-double on the recast rod later that morning.

Having topped up the swim with bait and moved another rod on to the plateau, the biggest fish of the session arrived at about 1.30am the following night.

“From the off, I could feel that the fish was very heavy, just using her weight to slowly move around the swim. There was no real drama until she was under the rod-tip, where she showed me her real power and stripped line uncontrollably on a good few occasions.

 
“It was a real relief when she finally slipped over the net cord,” he said.

Rob fed Sticky Krill boilies and bloodworm pellets doused in Sticky Pure Krill liquid.