51lb mirror banked on only bite of trip

Liam cradles his 51lb mirror, which fell to a pop-up.

Liam McGoldrick had only one bite during a weekend session on Wellington Country Park – but he wasn’t complaining when it resulted in a superb 51lb mirror. 

Arriving at the venue in the dark, the 32-year-old baited up and cast out. The following morning he noticed fish feeding further down the bank, but rather than recast and risk spooking them, Liam left his baits in position in the hope that the fish would move out of the area and towards his swim.

That proved to be a wise move by the senior contracts manager from Kent. 

He said: “The bite came at around 10pm and it was just a single bleep, followed by the line pinging out of the clip. 

“I was on the rod straight away, and the fight was immense – the fish was extremely angry and did not want to give up!”

Liam used a Mainline Cell pop-up over a spread of bottom baits and presented it on a Ronnie rig made using a size 4 Gardner Tackle Mugga hook and a safety lead clip system from the same company.