Cold relief arrives with a 46-pounder
Worth catching (a cold for) was John’s 46lb 3oz fish.
Wading into the water in just his pants gave John Claridge a heavy cold, but the perfect tonic in the shape of this 46lb 3oz mirror.
After forgetting his waders during an earlier prebaiting visit to the Sand and Gravel syndicate in the Cotswolds, the 43-year-old was forced to brave the chilly water in his underwear.
But all John’s discomfort was soon forgotten when he banked the mirror known as Look at the Length at an all-time top weight.
The Swindon rod, who manages Tackle Den in South Cerney, said: “I was nursing man-flu – probably something to do with having to prebait in my pants in cold water up to my thighs as I’d forgotten my chesties – but I got the rods out relatively easily as I’d already put on hookbaits and clipped the lines up to the precise distance. Full of cold, I turned the alarms up a notch and hit the sack early.”
At dawn the next day John received a positive bite after a
few subtle liners and pulled into a big fish.
“As the carp neared the bank,” he said, “the carbon throbbed under my hand and I knew what I was attached to was a lot heavier that anything I had caught so far this season. A back then popped to the surface and, quickly adjusting the net position, I stepped forward and engulfed my prize.
“The depth of the beast was immense and I summoned all my strength to heave him safely up to the awaiting mat. A very special carp from a special lake.”