Two cracks at a 40lb carp end happily

The only remedy for losing a 40-pounder at the net is to hook and land another just hours later.
That’s what Arron Fisher did at the low-stock Kracking Carp Lake on the Anglers Paradise complex in Devon.
The drama began with a bite at 7am on his second day. He said: “Straight away I knew it was a good fish but when it came up and rolled on its side I couldn’t believe how big it was.
“There in front of me was a 20-year obsession and my first UK forty. Well, it wasn’t to be because as I was trying to net it in the howling winds I lost it.
“I was absolutely devastated. I went about getting the rod back out and then sat in disbelief.
“I have been told there are only 16 carp in the lake so wasn’t holding out for another chance.”
Arron continued: “The carp gods had obviously taken pity on me as only 12 hours later my other rod went off and the rest is history. There in the bottom of my net lay another UK forty, a new pb and my first forty.”
The fish, known as the Half Lin, weighed 43lb 5oz.
Arron was fishing close in with the wind in his face and baited with Hooked On Baits hemp and Velocity Baits P-Nut+ boilies and stick mix. His hookbaits were 10mm Velocity M25 pop-ups.

Supercup 2016 is back!

Britain’s biggest club event – the Angling Times Bait-Tech Supercup – has kicked off again!
Fished by almost 300 sides last year, the Supercup is open to all club and tackle shop sides that are registered to the Bait-Tech Clubman scheme and works on a simple knockout system for local sides, culminating in big semi-finals and the final this summer where one name will go on the famous trophy.
The opening two rounds are fished through spring and early summer with teams drawn out of a hat to decide each tie. These six-a-side matches are to be fished on dates set by Angling Times on venues of the home-drawn side’s choice. Win through these and you’re in the regional semi-final, and if you finish in the top five of that special match the final beckons.
That will see 15 sides go at it hammer and tongs over five hours, all hoping to emulate last year’s winners Dersingham AC – and who knows, they may even be back again to defend the title!
“Supercup remains the club event to fish and as big team matches have dwindled down the years, this competition continues to attract healthy numbers,” said Angling Times Match Editor Richard Grange.
“The beauty is that any club can make it through to the final. The rounds are fished through spring, which with the variable weather and spawning makes for a great leveller, but normally the team that takes it seriously and gives its matches a bit of thought does best. So many clubs are put off fishing the big events because they think they can’t compete, but Supercup is on their level and something they can really get stuck into.”
Detailed here is all you need to know about the Supercup as well as relevant contact details for any queries, and you can find the entry form in Angling Times – good luck!

How it all works

The Supercup is a simple knockout competition run initially on a local basis with ties of two or three teams all local to each other. After two rounds of competition, the winning teams get through to their regional semi-final.
These are to be held at some of the country’s top commercial fisheries in July and August 2016 and draw together sides from all over that respective region (North, Midlands and South) to do battle for a place in the grand final.
These opening rounds are fished to section points, not weight, and MUST be fished on the dates specified by Angling Times. This is to stop arguments over which team can fish which date, which has blighted the competition since it started in 1999.
Fishery rules will apply, and the home-drawn side will have the choice of venue only and the rounds will be fished by six anglers a side.
Once the first round tie is completed the home-drawn club must send the result to Angling Times for publication using the Clubman match report card sent out with contact details for opposing teams after the draw has been made.
Teams that have made it through will go into the hat for the second round draw, which is typically made a week after all first round matches have been completed. These matches will follow exactly the same lines as the opening round, finishing in time for winning teams to get in some practice on their semi-final venue.
initial dates
All first round Supercup matches must be fished on the weekend of April 9 and 10 2016
Second round matches will then take place on the following weekend after the second round draw has been published: June 18 and 19 2016.

How to enter

To begin with teams must be registered to the Bait-Tech Clubman scheme. Don’t panic if you’re not, it’s free to do and only takes a phone call to 01733 395109 to get on board.
If you have fished the Supercup in any of the previous years, then you are already signed up so there’s no need to call!
Once you’re in, send the entry form from Angling Times to the address on the form along with your entry fee and a squad sheet of anglers wanting to fish. This list must have a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 20 names.
All entries MUST be received by Thursday, February 1 2016 to go into the draw for the first round, which will be published in the Tuesday, February 16 2016 issue of Angling Times.
If you’re a home-drawn club, you must contact your opposition to arrange the match as soon as possible – contact details will be sent out to home teams as soon as the draw is completed.
If you’re an away team, just sit tight and wait for that phone call.

Entry fee

It costs just £30 to fish the Supercup, effectively £1.50 per man if you enter a 20-angler squad – around half a pint of beer! This can be paid via cheque or Postal Order and then all you’ll have to pay from then on are the pools for each match you fish.

What you win

There isn’t a prize list in club fishing to match the Supercup and the lucky winners will not only receive the sparkling silver trophy but also commemorative medals as a memento of their day out, plus the £1,000 cheque from event sponsor Bait-Tech.
In fact, all teams competing will go home with something to show for their efforts, with a medal for every team member presented by England boss Mark Addy as well as a box full of Bait-Tech goodies to be distributed amongst the club. A free breakfast and evening meal for all anglers is provided by Bait-Tech.
You’re not forgotten if you come second or third, though, because medals and cheques for £500 and £250 are up for grabs for those teams as well as cash from the pools for the individual top five anglers and section winners and runners-up. Soo what are you waiting for? Enter now!

Britain’s No2 common carp out at best-ever weight of 57lb 10oz

Britain’s second-biggest common has weighed in at a best-ever 57lb 10oz to cap an incredible year for Paul Viner at the Avenue.
The 43-year-old has now caught four different fifties from the Shropshire water since March, including one of them twice.
His latest fifty, known as Tarka, sets a new lake record and comes just two weeks after he banked Ellie for the second time at 51lb.
“It’s just been a totally amazing year,” Paul told Angling Times. “I’m still in complete shock.”
Tarka was part of an impressive five-fish haul in 24 hours that also included three thirties and a 29lb 12oz mirror. The big common is believed to be Britain’s second biggest, behind the Lee Jackson Fish at Kent’s Strawberry Fields which reached 63lb 4oz last year.
“I arrived at about 12.30pm and went into the same peg where I had Ellie a couple of weeks before. I put the rods exactly where I had them then and put about 50 boilies over each rod with the throwing stick, plus about 2kg of particles,” said Paul.
“About 20 minutes after finishing that I had my first fish at 29lb 12oz. I recast that rod and put out another half kilo of bait and had Tarka an hour later. It was a slow take and I knew straight away it was going to be a special fish.
“It was a typical big-fish fight as it kited for a bit, then wallowed around and put up a scrap in the margins.
“I only saw it as it went into the net and, to be honest, I initially mistook it for Ellie and I was going to just unhook it and release it, but then I saw its tail and realised it was Tarka.
“This is the last of the big four fish from there that I hadn’t had. It was absolutely mint and didn’t look like it had been hooked before.
“It was just huge, I couldn’t get over the frame on it.”
The Sutton Coldfield angler added: “I had 10 fish in 24 hours from there in March, which was the biggest hit of the season, but in terms of big fish this has got to be my best-ever session.”
Paul fished Mainline Cell and Hybrid boilies and used D rigs made with Korda IQ fluorocarbon.

51lb Ellie is out twice in eight weeks

Paul Viner caught this 51lb common for the second time in eight weeks at the Avenue.
The fish, known as Ellie, found its way into the back of the 43-year-old’s net on October 1 before slipping up again almost two months later.
The Sutton Coldfield carper, who has been a member at the Shropshire venue for four seasons and has also had a 52lb 8oz mirror from the lake, told Angling Times: “I had been battered by those gales during a previous session and to be quite honest I fancied a break from that, so I went on the back of the wind.
“I hadn’t seen any fish, so I cast to a spot that I know produces them.
“It was just getting dark on the second evening when I had a fairly peculiar take. The alarm beeped twice and the bobbin moved up halfway before dropping again.
“I thought it was a liner, but then the bobbin pulled up to the top and stayed there.
“I knew as soon as I hit into it that it was one of the big girls. It held its ground and shook its head and then swam on a tight line about 80 yards out. It took about 15 minutes to get it in and, by the light of a full moon, I knew which fish it was as it came over the net.”
Paul baited with hemp, corn and Mainline Cell and Hybrid boilies, and fished a critically balanced homemade boilie over the top on a stiff D rig made with Korda Kaptor Kurv Shank hooks and IQ2 fluorocarbon.

36lb 10oz carp as captor defies a roaring gale

The vibrant hue of this chunky ghostie warmed Craig Cossey during a cold and windy session.
The 25-year-old concrete manufacturer fished for 24 hours at a Suffolk syndicate venue and braced the 36lb 10oz ornamental with a 21lb 8oz mirror.
“As soon as it rolled into the net I knew this was the carp I’d been waiting for,” said the Norfolk angler, who arrived at the venue after work.
“I got both rods out on my spots and, after seeing fish over one of them, I began trickling baits in and around the area. Eventually I got a good wide spread of bait out and settled down for the night.
“Temperatures dropped to 2ºC and the wind was blowing extremely hard towards my end of the lake. It actually blew my Carp Porter over!”
After a biteless evening, Craig saw a big fish show itself over his right-hand rod at about 8.30am. He said: “Thirty minutes later I had a take and it was from a 21lb 8oz mirror – a nice fish but not the lump that I saw.
“I got my rod back on the spot again and within 45 minutes I had another take and this was the one I wanted – a new personal best.”
Craig fished to a small gravel spot and baited with about 3kg of Mainline Cell boilies.
He used helicopter rigs with long hooklinks made with E-S-P Ghost and size 6 Fox Arma Point hooks.

Charity day reward for Ian Russell

One good deed deserves another, and so it proved for Ian Russell as he scored this 38lb mirror during a charity session.
Chris Wake bid £1,000 in an Anglers Against Cancer auction to fish with the popular carp tutor, and Ron Buss, at Oxfordshire’s Orchid Lake.
The trio settled into the Alamo swim and Ian caught one of the biggest fish in the lake on the first day of the 48-hour session.
“This is the first time I’ve fished here,” Ian told Angling Times from the bank. “It’s been a brilliant first trip and a brilliant first fish.”
He added: “I saw a fish jump at about 95 yards in open water and cast a single pop-up to it.
“About 90 minutes to two hours later, just before it started to get dark, it went off.
“The line and the clutch was so tight that it started bleeping, then stopped, and as I ran down to the rod I thought ‘did it or didn’t it?’... and then it whizzed off again.
“It was a hectic fight to say the least but eventually we got it in. Ron and (venue owner) Marsh Pratley recognised it as a fish called Big T which normally goes 33lb or 34lb, so we did a bit of a double take when it went 38lb, but we weighed it twice and that’s what it was.”
Ian used his trusty flicky rig with a size 8 Avid LSK hook and 12mm Sonubaits 24/7 pop-up. 

56lb 14oz carp a landmark for its captor

Ian Stott caught his first British fifty with this 56lb 4oz brute from Wellington Country Park.
The mirror, known as Scruffy Bob, fell during a weekend session at the Berkshire big-fish water. “I was left completely stunned,” said the Gardner-backed angler. “After seven years of trying I had at last bagged myself my first UK 50lb carp.”
Ian, who caught the same fish at 49lb 10oz more than three years ago, arrived at the lake at 6am on Friday and patrolled the water for six hours before settling in a swim known as the Up and Over in Bramble Bay.
“As I came around the path near Turtle Corner I saw several patches of tiny bubbles hitting the surface, followed by quite a few bigger ones,” said Ian. “I opted to set up in the Up and Over swim, knowing that I could wade out and cast down into the corner I had seen the activity in should I want to.”
Having introduced about 100 boilies around each rig after dark, Ian woke at 5.30am and got the take shortly afterwards.
 “As I picked the rod up, I tightened the clutch down and I could feel the cold water between my toes – I had forgotten to slide into my chesties. That was soon forgotten, though, as the carp started to strip a fair bit of line from the reel.”
After prising the fish away from an overhanging tree, Ian controlled it on a short line and gathered it in the net.
“I had a feeling that it was going to be a bit of a unit,” he said, “but I was stunned when I peered into the mesh.”
Ian fished pop-up boilies on rigs made with 25lb Gardner Trickster Heavy and size 4 Covert Mugga hooks.

40lb 14oz 'Moonscale' is a venue record

A Lancashire forty is a fine specimen, and this big mirror carp broke the venue record at Borwick Fishing in Carnforth.
The 40lb 14oz mirror was caught on Jimmy’s Lake by Luke Worthing, who added an 18lb 12oz common in the session.
He said: “I arrived at the lake with a strong south-westerly wind blowing. Someone was already set up in the swim I fancied, so I popped round for a chat.
“As I was talking to the other angler a few fish started showing in that area and, with the guy due to leave later that afternoon, I started getting my gear sorted out to move in after him.
“I got in at 4pm, dropping one rod on a known spot and casting the other two towards the showing fish. At 9.30pm I got my first take from an 18lb 12oz common.
“The rod was repositioned with a yellow wafter hookbait and a few catapults of Solar Club Mix boilies scattered over the top.
“At 11:30pm the same rod was away again, and this one seemed different. At first it felt like a catfish. It flat-rodded me and charged off down the lake. It surfaced 20 yards in front of the swim two down from where I was.
“After a battle in the margins, and freeing it from a weedbed, I realised how big it was when a long, pale flank broke the surface.
“I peered into the net and it was a fish called Moonscale, the biggest carp in the lake. I caught her in May last year at 37lb 4oz.
“On the scales she went 40lb 14oz – a new pb, a venue record and a northern forty. I was buzzing.”

45lb carp reward before dark

At this time of year it’s great to get a fish under your belt and head home before dark – and it’s even better when that fish weighs 45lb.
“It was meant to be an overnighter,” said Adam Honeysett after catching this big mirror carp from a windswept pit in southern England.
“But after catching the fish so quickly I decided to go home rather than do a night, so my session only lasted four hours!”
The Kent angler added: “I arrived at around 1pm and I decided to do a lap of the lake to see what I could see.
“On my way round I was lucky enough to spot a fish ‘head and shoulder’ in an area where there was no angling pressure, so I decided to go in there.
“I put three single hookbaits out to the area at about 110 yards, placing them about 20 yards apart. After about an hour, the bobbin on the middle rod pulled up tight and after a hard, slow, heavy battle I landed this 45lb mirror.”
Adam fooled the fish on a 10ins hinged stiff rig made with 20lb Rigmarole Camh2o and a size 6 Fox S3 hook. Hookbait was a 15mm Nash Amber Strawberry pop-up screwed into a Rigmarole bore ring.

Bluebell ‘50’ mirrors Terry Hearn’s Mary

Nineteen years to the day after Terry Hearn’s capture of Mary, Kev Hewitt slipped the net under his own 55-pounder.
At just an ounce under the weight of Terry’s record-breaking Wraysbury carp from 1996, Kev’s capture of Dave from Swan Lake on the Bluebell complex in Northamptonshire had a remarkable symmetry about it.
Kev, who first saw the iconic photographs of Mary on television show Tight Lines as a 12-year-old, was even using ESP’s Terry Hearn- named rods.
“I was only 12 years old but I remember seeing Terry and the iconic photo,” said the Swindon angler. “Fast forward 19 years to the day and I find myself holding a new personal best of 55lb 12oz. Dreams can come true!”
The 31-year-old added: “The lake had been fishing slow and there had not been a fish out in three weeks.However, the weather looked bang on. Strong winds and moody skies is big-fish weather, especially at this time of year. It could just be the catalyst needed to switch it on, so when I saw the forecast it was a last-minute decision to go down to Swan Lake for a 48-hour session.
“I had my first bite from a 23lb common off a baited area at around 90 yards and then had another fish of 37lb 6oz on a mini ESP PVA bag with a single grain of ESP artificial corn balanced as a hookbait.
“On the second morning the same rod was away again and this time a slow, steady big-fish battle resulted in the new pb slipping into my net.
“Three fish in 48 hours is a great result, topped with the big one that means this was a session I will
never forget.”
The Hinders manager, who caught Dave last autumn at 53lb 4oz, used a new CC Moore PVA bag mix inside mini solid bags and tied a 3ins ESP Sinklink hooklink to a size 6 hook.

Midweek joy at 45lb pb carp

This beautifully photographed autumn carp gave Chris Abbott his second forty of the year during a fruitful session.
The 24-year-old set a new complex record at Norfolk’s Nar Valley Fisheries with this 45lb 2oz mirror from Lake Geneva, and also caught a 30lb 12oz common and two other mirrors of 37lb 4oz and 33lb 12oz during his 72-hour stay.
Having lost two fish on the Monday of his midweek session, Chris’s dejection turned to elation as he snared the 30lb 12oz common and a 33lb 12oz mirror on Tuesday morning.
The feeding spell repeated itself on Wednesday morning as a 37lb 4oz mirror at 7am was followed by the big one just over an hour later.
Chris, from East Dereham in Norfolk, told Angling Times: “At 8.15am I received a single bleep and saw my rod-tip pull round on the solid clutch.
I then had to walk back at least 20 yards to get the stretch out of my line and guide the fish away from any danger.
“When the fish was at around 100 yards it started fighting and, as I eased it closer to me, I was sure it was a good one. As it came in close to the margin
I caught a glimpse of it and I knew then that I was attached to something very special. My legs had gone to jelly at this point while the fish was trying to flat-rod me.
“Finally, around 20 minutes later, the big mirror slipped over the net cord.
I was absolutely buzzing! I phoned my mate David Selley, who was already on his way down to photograph the 37, and told him the good news.
“We weighed the beast and she went 45lb 2oz. I was absolutely over the moon to have broken my pb for the second time this year and to have caught my second forty from
this venue.”
Chris fished to a small island of rocks at 120 yards and baited with about 1kg of a prototype boilie from Wensum Baits. He fished 15mm hookbaits on Korda IQ D rigs.

The Boss out at 52lb 12oz, joined by latest Fryerning 40lb carp

What better way to end a lake’s two-week fishless streak than with a 97lb brace?
That’s what Dave Cope did on the Main Lake at Essex’s Fryerning Fisheries where, as on many of the country’s carp waters in recent weeks, bites had been very hard to come by.
The 52-year-old quality engineer snared the Boss at 52lb 12oz, followed a few hours later by a new forty for the venue at 44lb 4oz.
“It was a catch of a lifetime, a fantastic fish from a fantastic fishery,” said the Milton Keynes angler who is on his first season at Fryerning.
Having found a slight shelf at 50 yards, Dave put out a “fair amount” of spod mix and presented Enterprise plastic hookbaits in small PVA bags.
He said: “My first carp came just into dark on the second evening. It was a decent take and the fish went on a few mad runs, rolling on the line a couple of times, but it didn’t manage to lose the barbless hook.
“Bailiff Carl Carlucci netted the fish and as we peered inside the net we both knew which fish it was – the Boss. After the fish was weighed and photographed, I just couldn’t fish.
“It was an amazing, fantastic, special fish – I was quite happy to sit there, drink tea and chill all night.”
After some encouragement from Carl, Dave sorted his rig and bait and cast out again. “For that I owe him,” said Dave, “as six hours later, around midnight, the same rod on the same spot went again.
“After another steady fight with the fish trying to venture round an island I managed to slip the net under the second fish at 44lb 4oz. It looks like it is a new forty for the lake and has not been out since August 2014.”

Four forties to 49lb 10oz and six thirties in 48 hours

Three forties and a thirty in an hour gave Justin Greig an incredible 60-minute haul of 168lb – and his biggest fish was still to come.
Having blanked for two days at Cambridgeshire’s Holme Fen, Justin ended up with 10 carp averaging over 39lb in the final 48 hours of his stay.
In a manic morning spell Justin bagged mirrors of 45lb 2oz, 46lb 4oz, 41lb and 36lb 6oz. And 24 hours later, in the final hours of his four-night stay, he banked a 49lb 10oz mirror.
The Bank Bug-backed angler said: “I ended the session wet and cold but I was the happiest fisherman alive. Five thirties and five forties to 49lb 10oz – wow! A red-letter session I will never, ever forget.”
Justin, who was fishing from the Reeds swim, baited heavily with maggots seasoned with chilli and a liquid sweetener.
After two blank nights, the first bite came at 10.30am on the third day, but the fish promptly fell off.
A 33lb 8oz mirror followed almost immediately, but a second dropped fish made Justin swap his 360 rig, baited with a white pop-up and 12 maggots, for a multi rig.
“Something had to change,” said Justin.
“I needed a low-sitting pop-up rig like the 360 but one that I knew would nail them, so I came up with a multi rig using a size 6 Bank Bug Demon hook.”
A 30-pounder followed at dusk, but the real action kicked off the following morning as four carp occupied nets and slings at the same time.
“The first of the crazy four fish was what we thought to be the biggest and it turned out to be 45lb 2oz – a UK forty, I was buzzing!
“Next fish was the fatty, which on close inspection was deep and had big apple-slice scales. It weighed 46lb 4oz and was a stunner – it was like a dream, two UK forties in one session!
“Next fish – could it be? Yes! 41lb – three forties one after another and I still had a good fish in the net! I hoisted it up on the scales and it read 36lb 6oz.”
That evening, a 36lb 10oz mirror made it eight fish for the session before the biggest carp of the trip – at 49lb 10oz – arrived on the last morning. With just minutes left, a 41lb 8oz mirror made it a perfect ten.

Two sessions lead to two personal bests

Lightning struck twice for Paul Bennett when he broke his personal best for the second time in as many sessions at his Cambridgeshire syndicate water with this 43lb 8oz mirror carp.
The Stockport rod set up in the same swim where he took a 41lb 4oz pb on his last outing and laid down a good helping of Madbaits Pandemic and Nutz boilies over a large area at 140-150 yards.
Two rods were fished with pop-up hookbaits on IQ D-rigs and the third with a critically-balanced bait inside a solid PVA bag.
These tactics accounted for mirrors of 17lb 4oz, 26lb 8oz, 26lb 4oz and 43lb 8oz.
He said: “I’m still in angling heaven. To get one pb in a season is mega but to get two in a month – well, it just doesn’t get any better.”

Orion falls to Adam Penning at 43lb 2oz

“The one I really wanted!” That’s how Adam Penning described this 43lb 2oz mirror carp which brought a successful conclusion to his autumn campaign on the Quarry in Essex.
The well known angling coach has been targeting the 22-acre venue for the last six weeks, and after photographing the fish known as Orion for one his clients last summer he set his sights on catching it.
He said: “My client, Sam Croft, caught it at a spawned-out weight of 31lb and it was one of the most impressive carp I had ever seen.
“Orion’s last capture was in April, and with that being its only visit to the bank this year we all had a feeling he could be big and even break the 40lb barrier for the first time.”
Following a string of captures, including a few repeats, Adam’s perseverance was finally rewarded.
“I was beginning to wonder what I had to do to get one of the lake’s real units – the answer was, of course to keep going, keep catching and it would come.
“At 6am Friday morning, the planets aligned and the incredible fish rested, beaten in my net. Orion weighed 43lb 2oz and was my 40th fish from the lake. Not only was it a forty-pounder, but also the most desirable carp I have seen in a long time – perfect tail, sloping head and an underslung mouth.
“I was, and still am, totally stupefied. Thank you, carp gods!” he added.

8-year wait for 46lb 10oz carp

After eight years of trying, Ted Bryan broke his carp personal best with this 46lb 10oz mirror from a southern stillwater.
The Sydenham-based big-fish hunter and former Drennan Cup Champion arrived on the Sunday afternoon to find the lake packed with anglers, so he had to drop into one of the few remaining free pegs.
The night passed without event, so when the crowds had thinned out the next day he upped sticks to try a different spot.
“Once I had got set up I went off to work on the lakes, cutting out swims,” Ted told Angling Times.
“I was working through the day and fishing at night, and because the clocks had gone back I was struggling to get my rods out before dark.”
He eventually had three rods positioned 40 yards out with 20 Nash Bait TG boilies over each one.
“I could hear fish crashing out all night in my swim, and at 4am I received the fastest take I’ve ever had. I picked up the rod and the line just continued to spill off the reel. Even when I tried to stop it, it just carried on going!
“I kept the pressure on but whenever I gained any line the fish stripped more off. It took over 10 minutes to get it in front of me and I thought it was going to be a small fish because of how fast it was. But when I pulled the net in it was huge – I even struggled to hold it for the photos.”
He added. “At 46lb 10oz it beat my previous personal best by 2oz.”
Ted’s successful presentation consisted of a double 15mm Nash Bait TG Active boilie hookbait mounted on a size 8 Fang X hook, and a 15lb Hardcore hooklink with a 2oz inline lead.

Carp fishing week in Cambs includes four 30-pounders

Carl Sharp took full advantage of an unusual week’s fishing as he toured four different lakes in six nights, taking three thirties up to 39lb 5oz.
The Premium Carp Fishing consultant’s tour of Cambridgeshire began with a night on PCF’s soon-to-open Poacher’s Pool on the Holme Fen complex, and saw the 31-year-old bank mirrors of 28lb and 32lb 4oz.
The next stop was a night on a private big pit that yielded eight carp to mid-doubles before Carl headed to his regular venue.
“The third day of my adventure saw me heading over to Rosemere for two nights to pit my wits against these wily carp that are getting cuter and trickier every visit,” he said.
Opting to keep his rigs in place for the length of his 40-hour stay, Carl made sure he laid his traps with precision.
“The first day and night passed without so much as a bleep, but I stuck to my guns and left the rods in place, hoping the carp may think I had departed. I was still unsure as I went into the final night but just before first light – some 36 hours after placing the rigs – the middle rod hooped over, resulting in one of the lake’s most sought-after prizes, Flat Head, at an impressive 39lb 5oz.”
Carl soon followed that up with Little Harris at 35lb 10oz before heading off to Abbey Lake for the last leg of his journey.
“This was a two-night social trip with family and friends,” said the West Midlander, “and I ended up with five carp including three twenties up to 24lb 12oz. Even my fiancée Liz got in on the action, landing three carp on the final morning up to 21lb 8oz.
“All in all, it was a memorable six nights in one of my favourites parts of the country. Thank you, Cambridgeshire!”
Carl’s fish fell to PCF pop-ups over a mixture of hemp, corn, pellets and Pickled Krill boilies.

Two ‘double takes’ and five thirties!

Rob Gooch is on a run of form he describes as ‘the stuff of dreams’.
The week after banking four fish in a session, the 38-year-old returned to his Bedfordshire syndicate and managed five thirties and four twenties in two nights.
His weekend tally included mirrors of 35lb 4oz, 32lb 5oz, 32lb 1oz and two at 31lb.
The Hertfordshire angler said:
“I could hardly believe it, but the rota draw went my way and I ended up back in the swim that had produced those four fish for me.
“It was just a simple case of clipping the rods up and getting them back in positon out on that bar.”
Rob put 3.5kg of Sticky Krill boilies and Bloodworm pellets on the spot and his first two fish, 29lb and 31lb 6oz, came within seconds of each other. “It was madness, I was so happy to have gotten off the mark straight away...but with two!”
Incredibly, just an hour later Rob had another double take and, with the help of a friend, netted mirrors of 27lb 8oz and 31lb 6oz.
Five more fish fell to Rob before he packed up on Sunday afternoon.
“I gathered my gear and headed for home, shattered, aching, but totally ecstatic about this haul of rather large fish,” said Rob.
“It was an unbelievable session, the stuff of dreams.”

40th Willows carp for Paddy

Yorkshire-record venue Eric’s Willows Lake is treating Paddy Ramsden very well this year, as he clocked up his 40th carp in 14 nights.
“The results certainly make the round-trips of three hours worthwhile,” said the Chorley, Lancashire, angler after his most recent session yielded five carp to 37lb 6oz.
He added: “This was my 14th night on Willows this year, mainly 24-hour sessions, with no blanks, landing 40 carp to date.
“On arrival, the lake was relatively quiet and I soon found carp down one end of the lake. I decided to drop into a swim I knew well and, knowing the marks, I managed to get three solid bags out first time with minimum disturbance. This obviously paid off as within an hour a cracking fish of 37lb 6oz graced my net.
“Not wanting to disturb the swim in case there were numbers of fish present, I decided to place the line back out away from the others on a zig.
“An hour later, my right-hand rod gave an indication and I was into my second carp, a mid-double. Within minutes my left rod was away again on the zig and I disturbed eight to 10 good carp scattering in all directions, which killed the swim for the day.
“I landed two more small carp on my second day, losing a better one after a 10-minute fight. Sadly, the ‘A-Team’ eluded me once again but I did land five carp when the lake seemed to have closed down.”
Paddy fished zigs soaked in CC Moore Feedstim XP and solid PVA Pags with CC Moore Pacific Tuna crumb and Tuna L030.

‘Slow’ venue’s common at 51lb

Terry Dempsey has got back among the giants with this stunning 51lb common carp from a Kent gravel pit.
The Urban Baits boss told Angling Times: “The lake had been fishing slow for months with just the odd fish coming out, so I spent the first day of the two-night session just watching the lake for signs of fish.
“All I saw was the occasional patch of bubbles popping up here and there in a particular area of the lake. With no other signs to go on I set up near the bubbling just before it got dark.
“The baits were cast just 30 yards out into small holes in the thick weed I had found after some plumbing.
“I used a Nutcracker corkball pop-up over around 100 Nutcracker freebies.
“At around 1am in the pitch dark I heard the loud crash of a big fish not too far from my baits, giving me lots of confidence.
“Then around 3am I had a definite line bite on one of the rods and, just before light broke, the right-hand rod screamed off as a heavy fish made it into the thick weed.
“After 10 minutes or so I pumped a gigantic weedbed into the margins and there in the middle of the weed sat this massive common that I quickly netted before it realised what was happening!”