Three 30lb carp in only a day

Tom Abbot bagged three Devon thirties in a day during a weekend session at Milemead Fisheries.
Arriving on Saturday morning and opting for peg 5 on the Tavistock site’s Specimen Carp Lake, Tom set a new venue record with the biggest of the trio at 34lb 1oz.
The fish, known as Machiavellian, was the second carp of the session and the first of a hectic Sunday.
 “Sunday morning looked spot on,” said Tom. “The wind had died down to a breeze and there was that misty rain. The water had taken on a bit of colour and I saw a couple of fish top out in front. I reset everything as bite time appears to be between 9am and 1pm.”
Just as Tom was beginning to wonder when the bites would come, Machiavellian arrived at 11.45am. “It behaved very well and looked immense at 34lb 1oz,” he said.
A lost fish followed at 2pm, but just half an hour later Tom made amends with a fish known as Wannabe at 31lb 7oz.
He said: “I couldn’t believe it when I saw it was another lump, I was over the moon.”
At 3.45pm another bite materialised and another big carp took off. “It wiped out both the other rods, but I didn’t care as it looked close to another thirty. I was shaking but between me and the other guys we confirmed it at 30lb 2oz.”
Tom, who fished a variety of pop-ups over about 1kg of free offerings, also had two twenties.
He added: “A very wet, smelly, but happy angler packed up and bored his wife with all these details!”