43lb 4oz mirror is a real peach!

A heavy baiting approach paid off for Ash Bailey, who enjoyed a 10 fish haul during a session at southern stillwater – the highlight being a couple of forties.
Arriving in the pouring rain on a Friday evening, the Dorset-based rod headed to one of the few remaining swims on the deeper side of the lake where he had a hunch the fish would be held up.
He proceeded to bait up with two buckets of bait comprising hemp, maize, 3kg of CC Moore Live System boilies and half-a-gallon of maggots. He fished all three rods over the top, each with a different coloured Northern Special pop-up tipped with maggots.
The first bite came the next morning in the form of a lovely 26lb mirror. “After that the carp were constantly showing over me,” he said. “A couple of hours later my bobbin pulled up really slowly and after a powerful fight my mate fished the net under a fish we recognised as The Peach. This is one the lake’s harder fish to catch, and at 43lb 4oz it was a new pb and my second UK forty.”
His spot was topped up with another two buckets of bait and 5am the following morning he had another slow take. “The fish stayed deep and made several powerful runs but after a long fight I slide the net under another monstrous mirror. As soon as I saw its tail I recognised it as another of the lake’s rare fish, a carp called Fingers. This time the scales settled on a weight of 41lb 6oz.”
Ash went on to land a further four fish with commons of 31lb and 30lb and mirrors weighing 32lb and 24lb 14oz.