Two scoops for 51lb 10oz carp after net fails first time

When Ryan Gibson slipped his net under one of the biggest carp in the lake he thought his night-time battle was over – but it was just the start.
Thinking he had just secured the known 50-pounder, the tackle shop manager watched in horror as his landing net came apart and the fish charged off 40 yards back into lake.
“She powered away in the opposite direction and pulled the head of my net from the end of the pole,” recalled the 28-year-old, who was fishing Cambridgeshire’s Rosemere syndicate.
“Never before had I ever had this happen to me with this style of net and I don’t suppose I shall ever have it happen again but, at that moment in time, I was absolutely gobsmacked at what had just happened.”
Ryan, from nearby March, was still in contact with the fish but far from sure about the outcome of the renewed battle.
“I was an absolute wreck, holding on to the rod for dear life, knowing full well what I was attached to and at the same time trying in earnest to put my net back together,” he said.
Having scrambled to get his head torch, which he had left under his brolly as he rushed to hit the 1am bite, the fish was subdued once more after a 15-minute tussle.
“Upon lifting the net around her for the second time I dropped the rod and grabbed hold of the spreader as quickly as possible, but this time around she was properly beaten.
“As I secured the net she lay there in the margins looking rather large!” he added.
At 50lb 10oz the fish gave Ryan, who fished Sticky Krill boilies on Withy Pool rigs made with Fox components, a new pb by more than 10lb.
The following morning, to round off a memorable session, he banked a 31lb 13oz mirror.
“It was a trip I will never forget and a capture that will forever be remembered as my first UK fifty,” said Ryan.